Rocket Lab Is back in action.
Two phases of the California-based company Electron rocket Delivering the Earth-observation satellite into orbit, Tonight (30) Gust aided its return-flight mission.
The launch, which took place from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand launch site at 11:05 pm EDT (0305 GMT), was the first for the company since July 4, when the electron failed immediately after the liftoff. Coming soon in the investigation a Single faulty electric connection In the upper stages of the booster, representatives of the Rocket Lab said the issue would be relatively straightforward to avoid future flights.
Related: Rocket Lab and its Electron Booster (photos)
There were no problems around at this time.
The electron booster lofted approximately 220-lb successfully. (100 kg) Satellite, says Sequoia for the San Francisco company Capella Space, which has a rocket lab on the mission “I can’t believe it not at all.”
Sequoia will be the first publicly available satellite in the company’s commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation, “Rocket Lab representatives said. Wrote a mission description.
“The mission name is Capella’s approval of SAR technology that provides high-quality images of the Earth day and night and in any weather conditions,” they added. “Capella’s space-based radar can detect sub-0.5 meter changes on the Earth’s surface, providing insights and data that can be used for security, agricultural and structural surveillance, as well as disaster response and recovery.”
The 57-foot-tall (17th) electron provides dedicated orbital rides for smaller satellites such as Sequoia, which are becoming increasingly capable as the electronic components decrease.
The 14th orbital launch for Electron was not “I Can’t Believe It Not”, which began with a test flight in May 2017. The rocket worked with 11 successful missions in a row until the July 4 failure, resulting in a loss of seven. Satellites.
Rocket Lab aims to greatly increase its launching cad in the near future, an ambition that will go a long way in making electrons partially reusable. The company plans to recover the electron in the first phase shortly after the launch, which ejected boosters from the sky from a helicopter. (Electron power is too small to make a vertical landing, as is done by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket; the rocket lab booster cannot carry enough fuel to save the required amount for landing, company representatives said.)
Rocket Lab has already taken steps towards this usable vision. For example, the company showed a helicopter catch in the meantime Dummy-booster drop test In March of this year. And he successfully guided the electron to the first phase on Earth on missions 10 and 11, which began in December 2019 and January 2020.
Returning boosters hit the sea hard on those flights. But at the 17th launch of Electron, which is scheduled to take place later this year, Rocket Lab has plans. Combine guided re-entry with parachute deployment, Sea recovery procurement and detailed inspection. (A helicopter will not be involved in that mission.)
“We’ll fish it out of the ocean, bring it back, put it in the factory and then see what we’ve really got. It’ll determine how much work we’ve got going forward,” said Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck on Aug Gust. Company update and Q&A session It was seen livestream on YouTube.
“To date, telemetry will say we’ve got a pretty healthy phase, but that’s the only rubber road we get,” Beck said.
Mike W. Wall is the author of “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book about the quest for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @Mamildld. Follow us on Twitter @speed.com or Facebook.
