See: Rocket Lab’s First Rocket Recovery Launch

UPDATE: Return to Sender was successfully launched and its first stage was successfully recovered after parachuting back to Earth. The University of Auckland student satellite, Gnome Chompsi and other cargoes successfully made it into space. Over $ 80,000 for Auckland’s Starship Childrens Hospital by American billionaire Gabe Newell, who pledged $ 1 to everyone who watched the livestream, included below

Rocket Lab is expecting three historic firsts with its release “Return to Sender” from Mahia this afternoon, now scheduled for 3:20 pm.

Everything is going well, it will be the first time that the New York company recovers the reinforcement stage of one of its Electron rockets, to reuse it in a future mission.

It will also become the first rocket to carry a New Zealand student-made satellite into space – “APSS-1,” an effort by the University of Auckland designed to measure electrical activity in the upper atmosphere – and whether disturbances there activity can be correlated to earthquakes (see full payload manifest below). APSS-1 will also be New Zealand’s first satellite not built by Rocket Lab.

And, on a more joyous level, it will also be the first time Rocket Lab has shot a gnome into space. “Gnome Chompski” was 3D printed by Weta Workshop for Gabe Newell, an American tech billionaire who was stranded in New Zealand while on vacation during the first lockdown, and then decided to stay for a bit. It’s for a promotional cause: “Chompski” is joking to promote the gaming platform that Newell founded, Valve, and for a good cause: Newell will donate $ 1 to Auckland’s Starship Children’s Hospital for each person who watches the launch live stream (embedded above).

There will be no happy ending for Chompsky.

The 150mm gnome will remain attached to the Kick Stage during all phases of the mission, but will burn out upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere during the deorbitation process.

Recover and reuse

Previously, the booster, or first stage, which accounts for most of Electron’s height of 28 m, had to be burned at an angle upward while re-entering the atmosphere after it separated.

The reusable rocket plan will be rolled out in two phases, and it’s a bit more Kiwi / No.8 wire than Space X’s effort, which brings the Falcon 9 boosters back to Earth with engine power for (mostly) perform vertical landings from the right side up. .

The first phase will be implemented with today’s Rocket Lab “Return to Sender” mission.

The booster stage will parachute to Earth about 12 minutes after lift-off, falling into the ocean below Launch Complex 1 in Mahia. If all goes according to plan, a salvage vessel will locate it and ship it to the Rocket Lab production complex in Auckland for refurbishment.

“The recovery process at sea can take several hours, so we will not be showing that I am alive, although we hope to have footage available to share after the fact,” a Rocket Lab representative tells the Herald.

“The stage has a camera for re-entry, but we hope to lose the telemetry that the signal brings us once the stage descends to about 30 km altitude.”

The second phase, to be attempted with a future mission, will see a helicopter attempting to hook the first stage as it parachutes to the ground.

The company has already tested an airborne capture (see video below), albeit using a lightweight simulated booster.

“Return to Sender” will be their 16th release and their 6th this year.

But CEO Peter Beck says the reuse of rockets will allow for even faster response time between launches.

“Reclaiming the first stage of a small launch vehicle is uncharted territory. What we are trying to accomplish with Electron is an incredibly difficult and complex challenge, but we are willing to pursue it to further boost launch cadence and deliver even more launches. frequent opportunities for small satellite operators, “says Beck.

The next step for Rocket Lab: its first launch from US soil and its role in supporting NASA’s return to the moon.

Gnome alone

Newell was stranded in New Zealand for a 10-day holiday that occurred during the close of March, then decided to stay. The divorced 57-year-old father of two says he can do as much working remotely from New Zealand than from his home in Seattle (where he became a billionaire at Microsoft, where he worked on the first three Windows launches).

Valve develops its own video games and sells titles from all participants through its online store Steam, which has become the dominant online platform for distributing game content in the post-disc era. Forbes estimates Newell’s wealth at $ 4 billion ($ 5.7 billion).

So you may as well afford crazy like sending “Gnome Chompski” into space.

But while the gnome could only remember some of Rocket Lab’s less scientific endeavors, such as founder Peter Beck’s disco ball satellite or his artificial shooting stars to entertain the mega-rich endeavor, in this case there seems to be some degree of utility. .

Rocket Lab says: “Manufactured with the support of award-winning design studio Weta Workshop, the unique space component is additively manufactured from titanium and printed in the shape of the Half-Life Gnome Chompski gaming icon.

“The mission serves as a tribute to the innovation and creativity of gamers around the world, and also aims to test and qualify a new 3D printing technique that could be employed for future spacecraft components. The 150 Gnome mm will remain attached to the Kick Stage during all phases of the mission and will burn out upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere during the desorbitation process. “

During an online event, Newell said his company was only 50 to 75 percent more productive with staff working remotely. Without explicitly mentioning Valve, he said it would make sense for game development companies to relocate, at least temporarily, to New Zealand, where they could work together in an office. He is seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to develop his idea.

Rocket Lab’s 16th Mission: Payloads

The mission, which will be Rocket Lab’s 16th Electron launch, will take off from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula during a 14-day launch window opening on November 16 NZT / November 15 UTC.

Payload: APSS-1

Organization: The Space System – Auckland Space Institute, The University of Auckland

The student-built Waka Āmiorangi Aotearoa APSS-1 satellite is designed to monitor electrical activity in Earth’s upper atmosphere to test whether ionospheric disturbances can predict earthquakes. The data from this mission will provide a deeper understanding of these hard-to-reach altitudes and advance understanding of how phenomena such as the solar wind and geophysical events affect this atmospheric region.

Payload: DRAGRACER

Organization: TriSept

The DRAGRACER mission will test the effectiveness of new restraint technologies designed to accelerate spacecraft reentry and reduce orbital debris upon completion of space missions. TriSept has completed the integration of a pair of qualified Millennium Space Systems 6U small satellites, one with the holding drag device and one without. The controlled spacecraft should leave orbit in about 45 days, while the second spacecraft is expected to remain in orbit for seven to nine years, according to Tethers Unlimited, developer of the 70-meter-long (230-foot) Terminator ribbon at aboard the control satellite.

Payload: BRO-2 and BRO-3

Organization: Unseenlabs

BRO-2 and BRO-3 are the second and third satellites of the planned constellation of the French company Unseenlabs of about 20 satellites dedicated to maritime surveillance. The first BRO satellite was launched into orbit by Lab Rocket in the constellation August 2019. Unseenlabs’ allows to improve the monitoring of activities at sea, such as illegal fishing and anti-environmental behavior. Thanks to a unique patented technology, BRO satellites are the first to be able to independently and precisely locate and identify radio frequency (RF) emitters around the world, day or night, in all weather conditions, and without need of a special monitoring of vessels. device. With three satellites in orbit, Unseenlabs customers can now benefit from the shorter review time available in the satellite RF geolocation market.

Payload: Spacebees

Organization: Swarm Technologies

Swarm will launch the latest 24 1 / 4U SpaceBEE satellites to continue building its planned constellation of 150 satellites to provide affordable satellite communications services to IoT devices in remote regions around the world. Swarm’s exceptionally small satellites enable the company to provide user hardware and network services at the lowest cost in the industry and deliver maximum value to customers in a variety of industries including shipping, agriculture, energy and land transportation. The SpaceBEES will be integrated into two of Rocket Lab’s 12U Maxwell CubeSat dispensers for orbital deployment.

Crowd Simulator: Gnome Chompski

Organization: Gabe Newell, Founder of Valve Software

Manufactured with the support of multi-award-winning design studio Weta Workshop, the unique space component is additively manufactured from titanium and printed in the shape of Gnome Chompski’s iconic Half-Life game. The mission is a tribute to the innovation and creativity of gamers around the world, and also aims to test and rate a novel 3D printing technique that could be used for future spacecraft components. The 150mm gnome will remain attached to the Kick Stage during all phases of the mission and will burn out upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere during the de-orbiting process.