Rocket Lab to Recover Electron Rocket, Introduce Helicopter Operations During Next Launch
October 19 2021 - 4:10PM
Business Wire
- The mission is the latest in Rocket Lab’s program to make
Electron the first reusable orbital launch vehicle dedicated to
small satellites.
- After splashing down in the ocean, Electron’s first stage will
be recovered by ship and transported back to Rocket Lab’s
production complex for analysis.
- For the first time, a helicopter will track and observe
Electron’s descent in preparation for future missions which aim to
use helicopters to intercept and capture returning rocket boosters
mid-air as they return to Earth under parachute.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc (“Rocket Lab” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:
RKLB) has today revealed it will attempt a controlled ocean
splashdown and recovery of the first stage of an Electron rocket
during the company’s next launch in November. The mission will be
Rocket Lab’s third ocean recovery of an Electron stage; however, it
will be the first time a helicopter will be stationed in the
recovery zone around 200 nautical miles offshore to track and
visually observe a descending stage in preparation for future
aerial capture attempts. The helicopter will not attempt a mid-air
capture for this mission but will test communications and tracking
to refine the concept of operations (CONOPS) for future Electron
aerial capture.
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the full release here:
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The Electron booster for Rocket Lab's
upcoming recovery mission (front) inside Rocket Lab's production
facility as it undergoes final preparations before launch. (Photo:
Business Wire)
The ‘Love At First Insight’ mission is scheduled to lift-off
from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a 14-day launch window
that opens on November 11, 2021 UTC. The mission’s primary
objective is to deploy two Earth-observation satellites for global
monitoring company BlackSky, with the secondary objective to splash
down and recover Electron’s first stage to further validate Rocket
Lab’s recovery operations and hardware.
“As one of only two companies to recover an orbital-class
booster from space, we’ve proven it’s possible to make Electron the
world’s first orbital-class reusable small launch vehicle,” says
Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO. “We’ve perfected Electron’s
controlled descent, demonstrated flawless parachute deployment, and
successfully plucked stages from the ocean. Now we’re gearing up
for the next stage – preparing to use a helicopter to catch a
rocket as it descends to Earth from space. It’s ambitious, but with
each recovery mission we’ve iterated and refined the hardware and
processes to make the impossible ordinary. I’m excited to take what
we learn from this launch and put it into practice with aerial
capture missions in future.”
Rocket Lab will be tracking the stage’s descent from space and
as it approaches 19,000 ft (5.7 km) from the ocean surface, a
helicopter will be dispatched to conduct reconnaissance of the
returning booster. The ‘Love At First Insight’ mission will also
include new recovery hardware developments to Electron including an
advanced parachute to be deployed from the first stage at a
higher-altitude, allowing for a slower drift back to Earth to test
communications and tracking for future aerial recovery. Electron
also features improvements to the first stage heat shield which
protects its nine Rutherford engines while they endure up to 2200
°C heat and incredible pressure on the descent back to Earth. A
team of Rocket Lab engineers and technicians will again be
stationed at sea with their purpose-built Ocean
Recovery and Capture Apparatus (ORCA) to retrieve the stage from
the ocean and return it to Rocket Lab’s production complex in New
Zealand for analysis and inspection.
The ‘Love At First Insight’ mission follows two previous ocean
splashdown recovery missions; the ‘Return to Sender’ mission in
November 2020, and the ‘Running Out of Toes’ mission in May
2021.
A livestream of the launch and real-time updates of recovery
operations for ‘Love At First Insight’ will be available on Rocket
Lab’s social media channels and website.
+ note to editors: ‘Love At First Insight’ launch and
recovery operations timeline:
- Approximately two and a half minutes after lift-off, the nine
Rutherford engines on Electron’s first stage will shut down and
Electron’s first and second stages will separate. Electron’s second
stage will continue with the customer’s payload to space, where the
Kick Stage will separate and deploy the satellites.
- Following stage separation, Electron’s first stage will begin
its descent. A cold-gas reaction control system will position the
stage on an ideal angle to re-enter the atmosphere.
- While descending, Electron’s first stage is expected to
experience intense heat and pressure while travelling up to eight
times the speed of sound before significantly decelerating to
enable a drogue parachute to be deployed.
- At approximately seven and a half minutes into the mission,
Electron’s drogue parachute will be deployed at around 43,000 ft
(13 km) altitude. This drogue parachute both increases the
booster’s drag and stabilizes its descent as it approaches the
ocean.
- Earlier and higher than on previous flights, the large main
parachute will be deployed less than a minute after the drogue, at
an altitude of 19,000 ft (5.7 km) to further slow the stage and
enable a controlled splashdown. A key objective of this mission is
to increase the drift-time of Electron’s first stage to test
communications and tracking for future aerial recovery
efforts.
- Upon receiving the all-clear from the recovery team stationed
at sea, a nearby helicopter will be deployed to sight the returning
stage and observe its descent to record data that will help refine
Electron aerial capture CONOPS.
- Once in the ocean, Rocket Lab engineers will attempt to
retrieve the stage onboard their vessel with their purpose-built
Ocean Recovery and Capture Apparatus (ORCA), a specialised cradle
and winch system manufactured to Electron specifications and
dimensions, before transporting the stage back to Rocket Lab’s
production complex for analysis and inspection.
+ further mission information
https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/
+ images and video content
www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/link-to-rocket-lab-imagery-and-video
+ live launch webcast The live launch webcast will be available
approximately 15 minutes prior to lift-off at:
www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream
About Rocket Lab Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an
end-to-end space company with an established track record of
mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, spacecraft
components, satellites and other spacecraft and on-orbit management
solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access
space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs
and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle and the
Photon satellite platform and is developing the Neutron 8-ton
payload class launch vehicle. Since its first orbital launch in
January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the
second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has
delivered 105 satellites to orbit for private and public sector
organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific
research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate
monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft
platform has been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and
Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus.
Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two
launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New
Zealand, one of which is currently operational, and a second launch
site in Virginia, USA which is expected to become operational by
the end of 2021. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain
certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These
forward-looking statements, including without limitation
expectations regarding the timing of scheduled launches, are based
on Rocket Lab’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future
developments and their potential effects. These forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (many of which
are beyond Rocket Lab’s control), or other assumptions that may
cause actual results or performance to be materially different from
those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially
from the forward-looking statements in this press release,
including risks related to the global COVID-19 pandemic, including
risks related to government restrictions and lock-downs in New
Zealand and other countries in which we operate that could delay or
suspend our operations; delays and disruptions in expansion
efforts; our dependence on a limited number of customers; the harsh
and unpredictable environment of space in which our products
operate which could adversely affect our launch vehicle and
spacecraft; increased congestion from the proliferation of low
Earth orbit constellations which could materially increase the risk
of potential collision with space debris or another spacecraft and
limit or impair our launch flexibility and/or access to our own
orbital slots; increased competition in our industry due in part to
rapid technological development and decreasing costs; technological
change in our industry which we may not be able to keep up with or
which may render our services uncompetitive; average selling price
trends; failure of our satellites to operate as intended either due
to our error in design in production or through no fault of our
own; launch schedule disruptions; supply chain disruptions,
product delays or failures; design and engineering flaws; launch
failures; natural disasters and epidemics or pandemics; changes in
governmental regulations including with respect to trade and export
restrictions, or in the status of our regulatory approvals or
applications; or other events that force us to cancel or reschedule
launches, including customer contractual rescheduling and
termination rights, and the other risks detailed from time to time
in Rocket Lab’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere (including that the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may also exacerbate the risks
discussed therein). There can be no assurance that the future
developments affecting Rocket Lab will be those that we have
anticipated. Except as required by law, Rocket Lab is not
undertaking any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211019005608/en/
+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Murielle Baker media@rocketlabusa.com
+64 27 538 9040
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