Rocket Lab "Running Out of Fingers" Launching Soon
Rocket Lab's latest launch is scheduled for around 1920h (AEDT) (0820h GMT) today (about two hours away).
https://www.spaceflightnow.com
Video feed available via this page shortly before launch:
https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/11/29/rocket-lab-electron-flight-10-mission-status-center/
"Rocket Lab is introducing several changes to the Electron rocket's first stage on this mission prepare for an eventual attempt to recover the booster with a helicopter on a future flight.
Rocket Lab announced in August plans to retrieve and reuse Electron first stages, primarily to achieve a planned cadence of one launch per week.
Rocket Lab determined production bottlenecks were a major factor inhibiting such a rapid launch rate. Reusing rockets could ease the burden on Rocket Lab’s factories in New Zealand and California, the company says.
The company installed a data recorder on an Electron rocket launched in August to collect information on the environments the first stage sees when it comes back to Earth, before eventually breaking apart in the atmosphere.
Beck told Spaceflight Now in a recent interview that the data obtained during the August launch showed that designing the Electron first stage to survive re-entry will be difficult.
“We knew it’s hard, but we certainly learned that it is hard,” Beck said. “We did get some good initial data from the flight (in August), but really Flight 10 is where it’s all going to happen. That’s where we’re pushing really deep with the stage. That stage has a full telemetry system, there’s RCS (reaction control system thrusters) to guide it into the entry corridor. We expect to go quite deep (into the atmosphere) with that flight.”
"
Rocket Lab's latest launch is scheduled for around 1920h (AEDT) (0820h GMT) today (about two hours away).
https://www.spaceflightnow.com
Video feed available via this page shortly before launch:
https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/11/29/rocket-lab-electron-flight-10-mission-status-center/
"Rocket Lab is introducing several changes to the Electron rocket's first stage on this mission prepare for an eventual attempt to recover the booster with a helicopter on a future flight.
Rocket Lab announced in August plans to retrieve and reuse Electron first stages, primarily to achieve a planned cadence of one launch per week.
Rocket Lab determined production bottlenecks were a major factor inhibiting such a rapid launch rate. Reusing rockets could ease the burden on Rocket Lab’s factories in New Zealand and California, the company says.
The company installed a data recorder on an Electron rocket launched in August to collect information on the environments the first stage sees when it comes back to Earth, before eventually breaking apart in the atmosphere.
Beck told Spaceflight Now in a recent interview that the data obtained during the August launch showed that designing the Electron first stage to survive re-entry will be difficult.
“We knew it’s hard, but we certainly learned that it is hard,” Beck said. “We did get some good initial data from the flight (in August), but really Flight 10 is where it’s all going to happen. That’s where we’re pushing really deep with the stage. That stage has a full telemetry system, there’s RCS (reaction control system thrusters) to guide it into the entry corridor. We expect to go quite deep (into the atmosphere) with that flight.”
"
