Pomyślny start Electrona 21.01. o 01:43 z Onenui Station (półwysep Mahia, Wyspa Północna, Nowa Zelandia) wystrzelona została RN Electron.
Wynios w T+8' 14" na orbitę o parametrach: hp=289 km, ha=533 km, i=82,83° pakiet pomiarowy "Still Testing" a także trzy nanosatelity: Dove Pioneer oraz Lemur-2 x1 i x2.
EDIT: 21.01. o 01:43 Onenui Station (półwysep Mahia, Wyspa Północna, Nowa Zelandia) wystrzelona została RN Electron.
Wyniosła ona w T+8' 14" na orbitę o parametrach: hp=289 km, ha=533 km, i=82,83° nanosatelitę Dove Pioneer oraz
pasywnego satelitę Humanity Star, a po ukołowieniu orbity za pomocą stopnia pomocniczego Curie, na orbitę o parametrach:
hp=497 km, ha=533 km nanosatelity Lemur-2 x1 i x2. Na drugim stopniu rakiety zamontowany na trwałe był także pakiet
pomiarowy "Still Testing".
http://lk.astronautilus.pl/n180116.htm#05Rocket Lab Electron Still Testing aborted launch, 20 January 20183006 wyświetleń 20 sty 2018
Rocket Lab Electron Still Testing Launch, 21 January 201828 107 wyświetleń 21 sty 2018
Udany lot rakiety Electron (21.01.2018) BY MICHAŁ MOROZ ON 23 STYCZNIA 2018
Kadr ze start rakiety Electron 21.01.2018 / Rocket LabW nocy z soboty na niedzielę (21.01.2018) przeprowadzony został drugi start rakiety Electron. Był to pierwszy udany lot spółki Rocket Lab.
Rakieta ElectronAmerykańsko-nowozelandzka firma Rocket Lab zamierza obsługiwać rosnący rynek małych satelitów. Przy pomocy rakiety Electron w jednym locie będzie mogła wynieść ładunek o masie do 150 kg na orbitę synchronizowaną słonecznie (SSO) o wysokości 500 km. Przy obecnie realizowanych lotach tym sposobem może być możliwe wyniesienie kilkudziesięciu najmniejszych satelitów.
Zespół Rocket Lab przy elementach rakiety Electron / Źródło: Rocket Lab
Debiutancki lot Electrona z maja 2017 roku temu zakończył się jednak niepowodzeniem. Rakieta miała wynieść testowy ładunek o nazwie „It’s a Test” na orbitę pomiędzy 300 a 500 km. Początek lotu przebiegł prawidłowo, jednak ostatecznie rakieta nie osiągnęła prędkości orbitalnych, wskutek nieprawidłowej pracy drugiego stopnia.
Udany lotSpółce Rocket Lab udało się przeprowadzić drugi lot rakiety. Start nastąpił po szeregu opóźnień – wcześniej pisaliśmy o planach wyniesienia rakiety jeszcze w październiku zeszłego roku. Ostatecznie start został przeprowadzony w niedzielę 21 stycznia 2018 roku o godzinie 02:43 CET. Rakieta wystartowała ze stanowiska startowego na Półwyspie Mahia z Nowej Zelandii. Lot na orbitę trwał 8 minut i 14 sekund.
Na pokładzie rakiety znajdował się kolejny pakiet pomiarowy o nazwie “Still testing”. Na orbitę docelową o parametrach 289 x 533 km i nachyleniu 82,83 stopni wyniesione zostały również trzy nanosatelity. – Dove Pioneer należący do Planet oraz Lemur-2 x1 oraz Lemur-2 x2 należące do Spire. Planet oferuje komercyjne usługi obserwacji Ziemi, zaś satelity Spire są używane w zastosowaniach meteorologicznych oraz w nawigacji morskiej.
Po udanym debiucie Electrona cieszą się nie tylko pracownicy Rocket Lab, ale również w Moon Express, spółce biorącej udział w konkursie Google Lunar Xprize. W tej chwili rosną szansę, że 200 kg lądownik księżycowy zostanie Electronem wyniesiony w kierunku Księżyca. Lot musi zostać wykonany przed 31 marca 2018 roku, aby zespół mógł ubiegać się o nagrodę w konkursie.
(SN, RL)
http://kosmonauta.net/2018/01/udany-lot-rakiety-electron-21-01-2018/#prettyPhotoRocket Lab delivers nanosatellites to orbit on first successful test launchJanuary 21, 2018 Stephen Clark
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket fires off its launch pad on Mahia Peninsula. Credit: Kieran Fanning/Rocket Lab(...) Beck said Rocket Lab has up to nine missions on its schedule in 2018. At full production, the company says it can launch up to 50 Electron rockets per year. (...)
(...) The company says it will charge $4.9 million per Electron flight, significantly less than any other launch provider flying today, and offer a solo ride for payloads that currently must ride piggyback with a larger payload.
With money from venture capital funds in Silicon Valley and New Zealand, along with a strategic investment from Lockheed Martin and the government of New Zealand, Rocket Lab completed the design and qualification of the Electron rocket with less than $100 million since the company’s founding, according to Beck.
A further round of venture capital financing last year brought the total investment in Rocket Lab to $148 million, valuing the company at more than $1 billion. Beck said Rocket Lab is now fully funded, with now further investment rounds in the pipeline. (...)
Mahia Peninsula is located on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, around 240 miles (380 kilometers) southwest of Auckland. Credit: Google Maps/Spaceflight NowPysher shared the panel with Shotwell, Bruno and executives from Arianespace, China Great Wall Industry Corp. and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
“There may be a niche market out there for small launchers, but I don’t think it exists today,” he said.
But some satellite operators disagree, backing up their views with signed contracts. (...)
The successful Electron test flight marked the first time a commercial rocket has launched into Earth orbit from the Southern Hemisphere. (...)
Beck said Rocket Lab has five Electron rockets currently being manufactured, and officials have a near-term goal of completing one vehicle per month to meet this year’s launch manifest. (...)
https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/21/rocket-lab-delivers-nanosatellites-to-orbit-on-first-successful-test-launch/Live coverage: Rocket Lab’s commercial launcher reaches orbit for the first timeJanuary 19, 2018 Stephen Clark
https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/19/electron-still-testing-mission-status-center-2/Rocket Lab test launch halted by ship traffic, deteriorating weatherJanuary 20, 2018 Stephen Clark
An attempt to place three small satellites in orbit on an experimental test flight was halted Friday after two ships strayed into a keep-out zone offshore Rocket Lab’s privately-owned launch base in New Zealand, delaying the Electron booster’s second demonstration mission at least 24 hours.
The countdown was stopped less than a minute before a planned liftoff at 10:10 p.m. EST Friday (0310 GMT; 4:10 p.m. New Zealand time Saturday) after officials detected two ships inside a danger area in the Pacific Ocean downrange from Rocket Lab’s launch pad in New Zealand.
Security teams helped usher the vessels out of the area, and the countdown was reset for another launch attempt. But engineers halted the countdown again to study a camera-related avionics issue. (...)
https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/20/rocket-lab-test-launch-halted-by-ship-traffic-deteriorating-weather/“Still Testing” – Rocket Lab’s Electron Reaches Orbit on Second Test Flight January 21, 2018
Electron is sized for the growing-small satellite market, capable of launching satellites of up to 150 Kilograms in single-payload deliveries and lifting clusters of CubeSats. Rocket Lab plans to charge $4.9 million per Electron flight, significantly less than any other launch services provider currently in operation. (...)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 – Photo: Rocket LabElectron, marketed as a 21st Century Rocket employing innovative technology, is the first orbital launch vehicle to rely on electric-pump-fed engines, 3D printing for all major engine components and a carbon-composite structure – all geared towards creating a low-cost yet robust launch vehicle. Standing 17 meters tall and measuring 1.2 meters in diameter, Electron has a launch mass of 12,550 Kilograms. (...)
Dove Pioneer, released by a Rocket Lab Maxwell deployer, will join Planet’s Flock of orbiting Doves – currently the largest Earth-imaging constellation in operation, employing over 130 active satellites in a variety of orbits to image the entire globe at least once per day. The two Lemur-2 satellites are joining Spire Global’s CubeSat fleet tasked with the collection of global ship-tracking data offered on the commercial market as well as atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles relevant for weather forecasting.
Since the Dove and Lemur-2 satellites are built in large quantities by their operators, placing a small number of them onto an experimental launch posed only little financial risk for the companies but offered a great deal of operational knowledge for future Rocket Lab missions carrying a larger number of spacecraft once Electron is cleared for service. (...)
https://spaceflight101.com/still-testing-rocket-labs-electron-reaches-orbit-on-second-test-flight/Rocket Lab conducts second Electron launchwritten by Chris Gebhardt And Chris Bergin January 20, 2018
(...) To accommodate its customer needs, Rocket Lab developed a dedicated launch facility on the east coast of New Zealand on the Māhia Peninsula of the North Island.
Officially opened on 26 September 2016, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 had initially been planned for construction on Kaitorete Spit on New Zealand’s South Island near Canterbury before construction negotiations stalled and Rocket Lab moved the launch site to the North Island and the Māhia Peninsula.
The selection of the Māhia Peninsula was actually more favorable from a geographic consideration as it permits a wide range of available orbital inclinations to launch into – with various Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) flights to various inclinations ranging between 39 and 98 degrees available.
The Māhia Peninsula – New Zealand’s first orbital launch site – also offered less interaction with standard aviation routes, allowing the site to be licensed for up to 100 flights per year with a maximum flight rate of one launch every 72 hours.
Very similar to the facilities and architecture utilized by SpaceX for their Falcon 9 rocket, Rocket Lab built a launch complex for its Electron rocket featuring a pad with a 50-tonne launch platform and tower, storage tanks for propellant and oxidizer, and a hanger where the Electron rockets and their payloads will be integrated prior to transport to the pad. (...)
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/01/rocket-lab-second-electron-launch/Rocket Lab Electron reaches orbit on second launchby Jeff Foust — January 20, 2018. Updated 10:30 p.m. Eastern with comments from Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck.
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off from the company's launch site in New Zealand Jan. 20. This launch, the second for the small launch vehicle, was the first to successfully reach orbit. Credit: Rocket LabWASHINGTON – Rocket Lab announced Jan. 20 that the second launch of its Electron small rocket was a success, reaching orbit and deploying three cubesats.
The Electron lifted off from the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 8:43 p.m. Eastern (2:43 p.m. local time Jan. 21) on the second day of a nine-day launch window for the mission. A launch attempt a day earlier was scrubbed by a combination of boats in restricted waters off the launch site and a technical issue with the rocket.
The rocket, powered by nine Rutherford liquid oxygen and kerosene engines in its first stage, lifted off the pad after a problem-free countdown. The first stage shut down and separated two and a half minutes after launch, after which the second stage, with its single Rutherford engine, ignited for a burn lasting more than five a half minutes.
As the second stage shut down, launch controllers declared that the vehicle was in orbit. The stage subsequently released its three payloads, a Dove cubesat for Planet and two Lemur-2 cubesats for Spire. Planet later confirmed that its cubesat was in orbit and communicating following the launch.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Rocket Lab Chief Executive Peter Beck said in an interview shortly after the launch. “It puts us into a really good position to really deliver on what we said many years ago, that we’re here to open up space for business.”
Beck said the company will spend some time to review the telemetry from the mission, but an initial look indicated that the vehicle performed as planned, releasing the three cubesats into elliptical orbits of 300 by 500 kilometers. “We inserted well inside our commercial accuracy for apogee, perigee and inclination,” he said.
The launch was the first for the Electron after the vehicle’s inaugural flight in May 2017 failed to reach orbit. The company said that the rocket worked as planned on that mission, but a telemetry problem triggered range safety systems about four minutes after liftoff, ending the mission.
In an interview earlier this month, Beck said that if the second launch was successful, the company would move ahead into commercial service with the rocket. Beck said in the post-launch interview that was still the case, but didn’t set a date for the next mission beyond rolling the vehicle out at the launch pad “in the coming months.” The customer for that launch, if it is a commercial mission, has not been announced.
Beck said the company now plans to ramp up its flight rate as it moves into commercial operations, with a goal of one launch per month by the end of the year. “Since the last flight we’ve spent a lot on preparing the business to scale,” he said, including establishing a factory in California that now produces a “flight set” of Rutherford engines every month. The Electron itself is assembled in New Zealand, where the U.S.-headquartered company has the bulk of its operations.
“We’ve spent a lot of time preparing for when we feel like the vehicle is solid,” he said. “Now, it’s just a matter of pushing them through.”
Electron is part of a new generation of small launch vehicles developed in recent years to serve the growing small satellite market. Electron is designed to place up to 150 kilograms into a sun-synchronous orbit, and its customers include Planet and Spire, as well as NASA and Moon Express.
“It’s a great day, obviously, for Rocket Lab, but also for the industry,” Beck said. “We really are stepping into a new era for the industry.”
http://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-electron-reaches-orbit-on-second-launch/https://phys.org/news/2018-01-commercial-rocket-zealand-deploys-small.htmlElectronIt's a Test / Still Testing Dove Pioneer (Flock)Lemur-2https://www.forum.kosmonauta.net/index.php?topic=2210.msg105227#msg105227https://www.forum.kosmonauta.net/index.php?topic=2210.msg114477#msg114477