Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab said Thursday it will try to recapture the first phase of its electron rocket for the first time with its next mission scheduled for mid-November lift.
This step follows a series of tests during which Rocket Lab is building towards full stage recovery. During these previous tests, the engineers adjusted the parachute to the maximum load in the first phase and returned the previous two rockets through the “wall”, which the company called the Rentry’s high heat and pressure at supersonic speeds.
The company’s founder, Peter Beck, told reporters during a press conference that he was not sure which fish the company would take out of the sea. It could be the first phase almost intact or he admitted to the “smoldering stump.” The key to this test, he said, was to collect data about the parachute system.
Beck announced the company’s plans to start using its small electron rocket just over a year ago, and said it aims to effectively double vehicle production by meeting customer demand. “We are seeing that the delivery time of the product is getting shorter, and now every 30 days a phase is returning from the factory,” he said. “But really, we’re nowhere near meeting the demands of our customers.”
Its engineers developed a plan in which the first phase of the electron would start from the second phase and, in general, be separated at an altitude of 800 km, and then reentry control system thrusters would be used to retrieve the vehicle, in which the engine section would proceed. Unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, nine first-stage engines on an electron will not fire. (SpaceX is the only company to successfully recover in the first phase.)
As the electron rocket descends lower into the atmosphere, there will be a drag parachute deployed, followed by the main parachute. If all goes well, the rocket should splash into the ocean which travels less than 10 seconds per second.
Rocket Lab
That’s the plan, at least. With an upcoming mission called “Return to Sender”, the company will then recover the vehicle from the sea and return to its factory in New Zealand to see what condition it is in in the first phase.
“Parachutes aren’t a trivial thing to be fit for,” Beck said. “Whenever you throw a little piece of fabric under the speed of sound, it’s always a little interesting. I’ll be shocked when I get back to the factory.”
Beck said the company needs to better integrate Electron’s hardware and software, and this should improve future recovery efforts. Once the company is able to fully recapture the first phase, the final step will be to catch the vehicle in mid-air, using a helicopter – this will avoid damage to the vehicle from the sea. The company has successfully practiced this maneuver by capturing the mock rocket stage from a helicopter.
“I’m sure there’s a ton of work going on on the heat shield and the various bits and pieces we need to qualify.” He said. “Once we get to a point where we have something in which we really care that it doesn’t get wet, we’ll start bringing the helicopter inside.”
This can take many flights, but the company has many business missions to test this technology. Beck said the cost of an electron’s payload capacity to include parachutes, heat shielding, reaction control systems and other measures is about 15 kilograms.
The “Return to Sender” mission will deliver 30 small satellites into various orbits, and the two-week launch window opens on November 15. The down-range recovery effort will take place in the Pacific Ocean, about 400 kilometers from the launch site.
