Rocket Labs - Tests, Launches, Developments

flyingturtle · Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:11 am

(I didn't find a thread dedicated to the Kiwis in Space, so I start one. Please remove if duplicated.)

Rocket Labs just announced that they want to reuse the first stage of their Electron launcher. With some clever aerobraking they want to manage heat, and a helicopter will fetch the first stage while it is descending on parachutes.

Adding the capability will eat 10 to 20 percent of the Electron's payload, but they want to recover that by developing the first stage further.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/0 ... lab_reuse/

Trololzilla · Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:26 am

Older thread here, but it probably makes more sense to have a general RocketLab thread from now on.

WKTaylor · Tue Aug 13, 2019 5:56 pm

I thought that their business concept was to build the 1st stages [and any boosters] cheap-enough that recovery and refurbishment was not 'value added' or 'value saved'.

WKTaylor · Tue Aug 13, 2019 6:57 pm

I thought that their business concept was to build the 1st stages [and any boosters] cheap-enough that recovery and refurbishment was not 'value added' or 'value saved'.

Tugger · Tue Aug 13, 2019 7:56 pm

WKTaylor wrote:
I thought that their business concept was to build the 1st stages [and any boosters] cheap-enough that recovery and refurbishment was not 'value added' or 'value saved'.

Well, two things:
An aluminum can is really cheap, but it is still of value to recycle.
And, recovery allows designers to look at what they made and improve on it. Make it cheaper, more efficient, more effective, etc. One and done and you don't get to inspect the results of "what happened" vs "what was intended".

Tugg

WKTaylor · Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:24 pm

Tugger...

IF inspecting and/or recycling, then let the 1st stage parachute into the ocean and pop-open flotation bags for water-recovery.

Speculation... Adding light-weight grid-fins [and/or] controllable speed-brakes [petals] [and/or] hypersonic 'ballute(s)' to the upper end of the stage would provide dramatic drag-rise and allow limited aerodynamic steering of the stage body to a guided landing 'spot'... much closer to shore... or the most 'tranquil' water-site... and-or landing close-to' a recovery ship.

HMmmmm.. I wonder if the trans-stage ring/fairing could be redesigned and dual-utilized to add drag and/or recovery guidance... instead of 'just' being jettisoned?

Using a heavy helo for 'airborne recovery' is a sketchy proposition.

GDB · Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:32 pm

After a failure on their 13th mission, Rocket Lab has rapidly isolated the problem (as mentioned below), fixed it and had a successful 14th launch;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPIhI5mRDRI

They are working towards parachute and helicopter recovery for future first stages.

Erebus · Mon Aug 31, 2020 9:35 pm

They name their missions with rather eccentric phrases. Sounds like a very SpaceX thing that SpaceX never does. :mischievous:

AirlineCritic · Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:54 pm

WKTaylor wrote:
Using a heavy helo for 'airborne recovery' is a sketchy proposition.

Indeed. I'll be interested to see how that goes.

Erebus · Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:16 pm

AirlineCritic wrote:
WKTaylor wrote:
Using a heavy helo for 'airborne recovery' is a sketchy proposition.

Indeed. I'll be interested to see how that goes.

I think it should be doable. They've already tested the helicopter recovery part of it. Probably the bigger challenge is how to get the first stage to survive the stresses of reentry. This is a very compact rocket and they don't get a lot of weight margin to work with the payloads they launch.

Trololzilla · Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:13 am

Well, it's a bit of an unorthodox thing but apparently Valve partnered with Weta Workshop and Rocket Lab to build and launch a titanium Gnome Chompski into space (sort of) today (Nov. 19) as part of Rocket Lab's "Return to Sender" launch as an homage to Half Life 2: Episode 2 while Gabe Newell is sequestered in New Zealand.

Source 1
Source 2

Some other highlights of the launch:

Return to Sender’ will deploy 30 satellites to a 500 km circular LEO

For the first time, Rocket Lab will also attempt to bring Electron’s first stage back from space under a parachute for a water landing. The mission will be the first time Rocket Lab has attempted to recover a stage after launch and is a major milestone in Rocket Lab’s pursuit to make Electron a reusable rocket to support an increased launch cadence for small satellite missions.

For every person who watches the live launch webcast via http://www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream, Valve’s Gabe Newell will donate $1 to Starship children’s hospital

So tune in to the live stream to support a good cause.

Francoflier · Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:22 pm

It looks like Rocket Lab is ready to step up to the big boys league and give SpaceX a run for their money with a larger launcher:

https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-to-go- ... ft-rocket/

Funding will involve a merger and means that Rocket Lab will go public.

Here's Rocket Lab's own video introducing the new rocket, featuring their CEO; Peter Beck:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agqxJw5ISdk

It will be called Neutron, will have an 8T LEO capability and will be aimed squarely at the constellation sat market, though interestingly, Peter mentions that it will be man-rated, hinting at even more exciting stuff...

I didn't think they'd venture into that market, given that they seemed to have found a nice niche within the small launcher market and that they themselves vehemently denied they ever would go larger until fairly recently (hence Peter eating his hat).
Risky move for a small company in an increasingly competitive and fickle industry... I wish them well.

GDB · Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:36 pm

Best of luck to them, the more the merrier, not in the same way as Elon/Space X but RocketLab are also charismatic, innovative, excellent at media outreach.
With at their original NZ pad, the most picturesque launch site.

ZaphodHarkonnen · Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:24 pm

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/about-us/u ... eployment/

It's a shame no NZ launches. Instead it will be Wallops. Like, I understand why. But I'd have loved to have had launches of a rocket this size just a half day drive away.

texl1649 · Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:50 pm

Pretty tough not to like Peter, eating his hat. Good showmanship, and they’ve run a pretty good operation from what I can tell. Additive processes seem to be quite involved a la Relativity, also, but not quite that much. Launching from Virginia I certainly don’t get but as indicated I’m sure there are reasons for it.

This is a huge step for them, and I will be cheering quietly for their success.

Francoflier · Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:41 am

texl1649 wrote:
Launching from Virginia I certainly don’t get but as indicated I’m sure there are reasons for it.

I have a feeling they just want to save money by using the supporting infrastructure already built at Wallops rather than building all of it from scratch in NZ. They are also entering a game in which it is important to have major suppliers and supporting industries nearby rather than halfway across the World. Isolation makes NZ a unique nation, but it has its downsides.
In fact, it feels like when SpaceX left Kwajalein atoll to establish its F9 operations back in the US.

I'm also guessing they are entering a market that does not require very unorthodox orbital planes like the one they are able to achieve down under. Just your run-of-the-mill mid-range, prograde inclinations should be plenty for what they have in mind.

Francoflier · Wed Mar 03, 2021 5:30 am

Here's Scott Manley's take on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFdVv4Sau7E

He raises the valid point that this new rocket seems eerily similar to Antares in size and payload and will launch from the same facility.
If Northrop Grumman wanted to replace the mostly foreign-built Antares with a locally developed and built vehicle, maybe due to political pressure to do so, as well as adding partial reusability and man-rating to potentially launch crew capsules to the ISS to compete with SpaceX, they could do much worse than asking Rocket Lab to do such a rocket for them...
:scratchchin:

zanl188 · Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:47 pm

Update on Neutron:

https://youtu.be/7kwAPr5G6WA

zanl188 · Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:48 pm

Manley’s review:

https://youtu.be/GcZ19f-yqfs

ZaphodHarkonnen · Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:54 am

Peter Beck went on an interview binge recently on the topic of Neutron.

A heap of really good questions and detail you only get when talking to industry enthusiasts.

Tim Dodd - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcuOSXjevGs
NASA Spaceflight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNx4tpiyUAM
Scott Manley - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVjYHLQtJUE

GDB · Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:52 pm

First launch from the new Pad B in New Zealand, 25th launch in total. Details of the pad early in the webcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjfNJjTyfKY

flyingturtle · Mon May 02, 2022 11:09 pm

Rocket Lab has successfully retrieved the booster!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nODVPGHQcc

Elon Musk is gonna need a bigger chopper... :old:

ZaphodHarkonnen · Tue May 03, 2022 2:02 am

Looks like the crew weren't happy with how the booster was acting so dropped it. So not a perfect win, just an almost perfect win.

Avatar2go · Tue May 03, 2022 6:06 am

Said the loads on the helicopter were greater than expected, so as a precaution, they let it go for secondary splashdown and retrieval. But still a major success. They will improve on that and showed the idea is viable.

GDB · Tue May 03, 2022 6:04 pm

Avatar2go wrote:
Said the loads on the helicopter were greater than expected, so as a precaution, they let it go for secondary splashdown and retrieval. But still a major success. They will improve on that and showed the idea is viable.

Yes, just watched the webcast after seeing a headline, Space X had plenty of near misses, in fact they did a tribute video of them.
Still, the he pilot dropped the booster near the secondary recovery ship so they’ll have it soon enough to inspect.

Avatar2go · Tue May 03, 2022 6:11 pm

GDB wrote:

Yes, just watched the webcast after seeing a headline, Space X had plenty of near misses, in fact they did a tribute video of them.
Still, the he pilot dropped the booster near the secondary recovery ship so they’ll have it soon enough to inspect.

Actually they posted photos of the heat shield on recovered booster late last night. Looked to be in good shape.

GDB · Tue May 03, 2022 6:25 pm

Avatar2go wrote:
GDB wrote:

Yes, just watched the webcast after seeing a headline, Space X had plenty of near misses, in fact they did a tribute video of them.
Still, the he pilot dropped the booster near the secondary recovery ship so they’ll have it soon enough to inspect.

Actually they posted photos of the heat shield on recovered booster late last night. Looked to be in good shape.

Good to know, it wasn't possible for me to view live this time.
Of course the main mission was successful and a new RocketLab record of 34 satellites in one launch.

Nomadd · Tue May 03, 2022 7:05 pm

GDB wrote:
Avatar2go wrote:
Said the loads on the helicopter were greater than expected, so as a precaution, they let it go for secondary splashdown and retrieval. But still a major success. They will improve on that and showed the idea is viable.

Yes, just watched the webcast after seeing a headline, Space X had plenty of near misses, in fact they did a tribute video of them.
Still, the he pilot dropped the booster near the secondary recovery ship so they’ll have it soon enough to inspect.

SpaceX didn't cut away and try to present the landings as successes for several hours when they crashed.

Avatar2go · Tue May 03, 2022 7:16 pm

Nomadd wrote:

SpaceX didn't cut away and try to present the landings as successes for several hours when they crashed.

Don't think there was any intent to deceive. They broke away due to the long delay for the last sat activation, and displayed a graphic of the orbital vehicle trajectory. When they came back on awhile later, they updated the status of both the sats and the catch, then signed off.

GDB · Mon Aug 01, 2022 11:04 pm

They are getting some significant contracts for a young company, considering the customer;
https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... ew-zealand

The previous launch;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Nphz4f9oY&t=274s

And a nice rendering of their planned Neutron rocket;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUxlVh6b8Q

Avatar2go · Mon Aug 01, 2022 11:08 pm

GDB wrote:
They are getting some significant contracts for a young company, considering the customer;
https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... ew-zealand

The previous launch;

CAPSTONE was a major success for them, since the vehicle performed well, right on the edge of the design, and opened the door for small extra-orbital missions. Overall it was quite impressive.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do with the Neutron rocket.

GDB · Thu Aug 04, 2022 5:42 pm

Another NRO away;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij94xGiXB5Q

SpaceX and Rocketlab provide the most accessibly watchable launches, with the added almost surreal touch of commentary and countdown in New Zealand accents.
(Reminds me of a pub off Soho in London, late 1990's it was Kiwi Central).

ZaphodHarkonnen · Thu Aug 04, 2022 8:41 pm

GDB wrote:
Another NRO away;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij94xGiXB5Q

SpaceX and Rocketlab provide the most accessibly watchable launches, with the added almost surreal touch of commentary and countdown in New Zealand accents.
(Reminds me of a pub off Soho in London, late 1990's it was Kiwi Central).

As a kiwi, hearing that accent in the countdown always make me laugh. Tin, nuin, ate, saven, sex, fuiv.... and so on. Quite jarring when you've been used to only hearing American, French, or Russian accents for countdowns your whole life.

Kiwirob · Fri Aug 05, 2022 3:41 pm

GDB wrote:
Another NRO away;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij94xGiXB5Q

SpaceX and Rocketlab provide the most accessibly watchable launches, with the added almost surreal touch of commentary and countdown in New Zealand accents.
(Reminds me of a pub off Soho in London, late 1990's it was Kiwi Central).

The Polar Bear, it morphed into a gay bar around 98 and It’s now called the KU.

GDB · Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:33 pm

Kiwirob wrote:
GDB wrote:
Another NRO away;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij94xGiXB5Q

SpaceX and Rocketlab provide the most accessibly watchable launches, with the added almost surreal touch of commentary and countdown in New Zealand accents.
(Reminds me of a pub off Soho in London, late 1990's it was Kiwi Central).

The Polar Bear, it morphed into a gay bar around 98 and It’s now called the KU.

Don't recall that one, around 97-98, didn't quote a name as I wasn't sure, Crown and Two Chairmen the more I think about it, certainly went in there.
Right location and certainly it looks 'restored' since then, don't recall any media types, it being a place known for food (common enough now for survival), though the upstairs bar was full of Kiwis.
https://www.designmynight.com/london/pu ... o-chairmen

Kiwirob · Sun Aug 07, 2022 5:13 pm

GDB wrote:
Kiwirob wrote:
GDB wrote:
Another NRO away;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij94xGiXB5Q

SpaceX and Rocketlab provide the most accessibly watchable launches, with the added almost surreal touch of commentary and countdown in New Zealand accents.
(Reminds me of a pub off Soho in London, late 1990's it was Kiwi Central).

The Polar Bear, it morphed into a gay bar around 98 and It’s now called the KU.

Don't recall that one, around 97-98, didn't quote a name as I wasn't sure, Crown and Two Chairmen the more I think about it, certainly went in there.
Right location and certainly it looks 'restored' since then, don't recall any media types, it being a place known for food (common enough now for survival), though the upstairs bar was full of Kiwis.
https://www.designmynight.com/london/pu ... o-chairmen

Pretty sure it’s the Polar Bear you’re referring to, it was the only Kiwi bar in Soho of not all of London at the time.

Avatar2go · Fri Oct 07, 2022 2:05 pm

RocketLabs has another launch today at 12:09 CDT, for the Argos-4 satellite payload. They are now hitting a launch cadence of about one per month.

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream/

zanl188 · Fri Oct 07, 2022 9:42 pm

Avatar2go wrote:
RocketLabs has another launch today at 12:09 CDT, for the Argos-4 satellite payload. They are now hitting a launch cadence of about one per month.

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream/

Orbit appears to be retrograde. Do we know why?

Avatar2go · Fri Oct 07, 2022 10:06 pm

zanl188 wrote:

Orbit appears to be retrograde. Do we know why?

Earth-observing satellites use a retrograde sun-synchronous orbit so their observations are invariant with respect to solar time. They observe the same area at the same solar time of each orbit, so the illumination angles don't change. That allows direct comparison, image to image.

For remote sensing applications like Argos, it also ensures that solar power is available to the terrestrial transmitters when passing overhead.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-synchronous_orbit

mxaxai · Fri Oct 07, 2022 10:38 pm

Avatar2go wrote:
zanl188 wrote:

Orbit appears to be retrograde. Do we know why?

Earth-observing satellites use a retrograde sun-synchronous orbit so their observations are invariant with respect to solar time. They observe the same area at the same solar time of each orbit, so the illumination angles don't change. That allows direct comparison, image to image.

One might add that the sun-synchronous orbit requires a slight retrograde inclination because it makes use of Earth's oblateness to continuously shift the orbit, basically turning an undesired disturbance into a useful feature, which keeps it in sync with the sun.

GDB · Sat Nov 05, 2022 12:49 am

They made another attempt at booster recovery today, unfortunately it ended up in the drink though with recovery assets to hand.
More importantly of course the payload was deployed.
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/11 ... f-you-can/

Avatar2go · Sat Nov 05, 2022 1:26 am

GDB wrote:
They made another attempt at booster recovery today, unfortunately it ended up in the drink though with recovery assets to hand.
More importantly of course the payload was deployed.
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/11 ... f-you-can/

Yeah, they lost telemetry with the booster on re-entry and didn't regain it in time to coordinate with the helicopter. In that case they pull the helicopter for safety reasons. But they will succeed at this eventually.

https://twitter.com/Peter_J_Beck/status ... 1649395712

Avatar2go · Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:14 pm

NASA awarded RocketLabs the launch contract for the remaining TROPICS cubesats, the earlier versions having been lost in Astra launch mishaps. Good news for both RocketLabs and NASA.

https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-to-lau ... _id=134737

zululima · Fri Dec 02, 2022 4:34 pm

It's ROCKETLAB. Why do you people insist on spelling it wrong? I know you see the correct way in every single article, video, and press release.

Avatar2go · Sun Dec 18, 2022 7:31 pm

RocketLab is about to launch their Electron rocket for the first time from Wallops Island. Coverage on their YT channel, begins in about 2 hours.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wCxZHrSgcAc

Avatar2go · Mon Dec 19, 2022 3:02 am

Avatar2go wrote:
RocketLab is about to launch their Electron rocket for the first time from Wallops Island. Coverage on their YT channel, begins in about 2 hours.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wCxZHrSgcAc

Launch tonight was a scrub due to winds. New launch time to be determined. Two hour windows each day, next window is tomorrow Monday 6 pm ET.

Avatar2go · Mon Dec 19, 2022 6:14 am

Launch now deferred to unspecified date, due to unrelenting high level winds.

Avatar2go · Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:33 am

The RocketLab Electron launch from Wallops was a success last evening, after numerous weather delays. A few tense moments when a ground station went down unexpectedly.

The payload was 3 Hawkeye communications satellites. Being able to launch from Wallops opens up new markets for RocketLab.

https://www.space.com/rocket-lab-1st-us-electron-launch

Avatar2go · Sun May 07, 2023 7:27 pm

Tonight May 7th at 9 pm EDT, RocketLab will launch two of the TROPICS hurricane/storm tracking cubesats. Two more will launch in the coming weeks. Two were also lost in an Astra launch failure last year.

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/

Avatar2go · Mon May 08, 2023 1:42 am

The TROPICS launch appears to be successful, pending download of the full deployment telemetry package.

Another successful mission (36 launches thus far) for RocketLab. NASA is also breathing a sigh of relief.

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