Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron smallsat launch vehicle successfully Returned To Flight with a mission nicknamed \u201cI Can\u2019t Believe It\u2019s Not Optical\u201d. This was the company\u2019s first launch following an anomaly on the \u201cPics or it Didn\u2019t Happen\u201d flight that led to that mission\u2019s failure.<\/p>\n
For its 14th flight, Electron carried Capella Space\u2019s \u201cSequoia\u201d microsatellite to a low-Earth orbit (LEO) from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand\u2019s Mahia Peninsula. Liftoff occurred August 31 at 03:05 UTC (11:05 pm EDT on the 30th).<\/p>\n
Electron\u2019s Return to Flight:\n<\/p>\n
Just over a month after experiencing a mission failure, Rocket Lab found the root cause of the anomaly and was ready to fly again.<\/p>\n
On July 31, the company announced that the cause of the failure was pinpointed to a wire on the second stage. The wire was improperly secured, leading to it coming loose, overheating, and breaking. The breakage caused a loss of power to the electric pumps of the Rutherford vacuum engine on the second stage, leading the flight computer to shut down the engine.<\/p>\n
Because the engine\u2019s shutdown was controlled, Electron continued to send clean telemetry back to Rocket Lab for several minutes. The second stage coasted to a 194 km apogee before falling back to Earth.<\/p>\n
The company also stated that no vehicle redesigns would be necessary. Moving forward, Rocket Lab will more closely inspect and test the vehicle prior to launch to ensure the issue does not reoccur.<\/p>\n
With the investigation concluded and the root cause determined, Rocket Lab then pushed forward with Electron\u2019s 14th mission, its Return To Flight (RTF).<\/p>\n
Space tourism guides (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n On June 23, the first stage engines for Flight 14 were successfully test-fired at Rocket Lab\u2019s New Zealand test site.<\/p>\n