Rocket Lab says recovered booster “in good condition”, some parts will fly again

Rocket Lab successfully launched its “Return to Sender” mission 10 days ago. Since then, for the first time, the company has attempted to recover the first phase of an electron booster from the sea after this launch, and now the rocket lab has conducted a preliminary assessment of the vehicle’s condition.

In summary, the company said in an update on its website, “We could not have sought better results from our earlier recovery efforts and the team is thrilled.” The rocket returned to such good condition, the company added, “We will re-enable some components and fly again.”

The November 20 flight marks the first time the rocket lab has carried an electron out of the Pacific Ocean. The rocket was taken into the waters off the coast of New Zealand, from where a small booster launches. Founder Peter Beck said the company wanted to assess the health of the first phase and make the necessary changes to the heat-shield and flight software before moving on to the final step of capturing the center of the electron rocket from the helicopter.

Although they performed several tests before the mission, the company’s engineers were not sure what they would get after the electron rocket was heated to a temperature of 2,400 degrees Celsius and a descent of 2.35km / s during its descent.

To accommodate this turbulent environment, as the electron returned to the atmosphere, Rocket Lab re-arranged the reaction-control-system thrusters to rearrange the first phase for re-entry. A parachute system was also added to slow its low speed into the atmosphere.

So how can a rocket’s heat shield survive these conditions?

The phase went significantly better, the company said. “The carbon composite structure was completely intact. As expected, the heat shield at the base of the stage suffered some heat during re-entry. It was never prepared for this load case, but we wanted to see before we could strengthen the heat shield. “Just how much heat it may take. With this wealth of data, our team has begun working on upgrades for future recovery missions.”

What is not said in the news release is that the engine section of the rocket, along with its nine Rutherford engines, failed during re-entry. Neither company has released photos of the engine department. This indicates that significant work remains to be done to protect the area during re-entry.

“Data is great”

However, it looks like Rocket Lab will get there. The company’s engineers are now monitoring and analyzing “every inch” of the first phase of the recovery so they can improve its recovery systems before the next attempt. This will not happen at the next launch of the Rocket Lab – the “Earth’s Night Baggins” mission for the Japanese earth-imaging company, CineSceptive, will begin early December 12.

, Latanu, Rocket Lab says it will wait until the beginning of 2021 to launch another recovery mission. He will also no longer attempt to retrieve by helicopter this time. The goal is to gather more information. “A bunch of data is great, but we’re a bunch of conscientious objectors and want to validate everything a second time before moving on to the next stage of recovery,” the company said.

Ically is also looking to become the second company to do so, following the re-ing and re-flight of the first phase of the rocket launched in the same way, led by Rocket Lab SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket. Rocket Lab has now flown 16 electron missions. In December 2015, SpaceX successfully landed the Falcon 9 rocket for the first time on the 20th launch of its Falcon 9 rocket.

List of images by Rocket Lab