Rocket Lab Electron

Last updated

The Mahia launch site under construction in 2016 Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 (Sept 2016).jpg
The Māhia launch site under construction in 2016

The rocket is launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand. [24] The launch pad's remote and sparsely populated location is intended to enable a high frequency of launches. [24] The rocket and launch pad were both privately funded, the first time all parts of an orbital launch operation were entirely run by the private sector (other private spaceflight companies lease launch facilities from government agencies or only launch suborbital rockets). [24] [45]

In October 2018, Rocket Lab selected Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at the Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, as its future secondary launch site in the United States, called Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2. [70] Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) is expected to serve government customers. [71]

The first launch from LC-2 happened on 24 January 2023. An Electron rocket successfully orbited 3 satellites. [72]

Additionally, the UK Space Agency is giving Highlands and Islands Enterprise the opportunity to develop an Electron launch pad on the A' Mhòine Peninsula in Sutherland, Scotland. [73] The location would be named Sutherland spaceport. [74]

Launch history

A National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload was successfully launched aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex-1 200131-D-RQ659-0001.JPG
A National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload was successfully launched aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex-1

The Electron has flown 56 times since May 2017, with a total of 52 successes and 4 failures, Including 2 suborbital flight from the HASTE program. The initial test flight, called "It's a Test", failed due to a glitch in communication equipment on the ground, but the follow-up missions, called "Still Testing", "It's Business Time" and "This One's For Pickering", delivered multiple small payloads to low Earth orbit. [75] [76] In August 2019, a mission named "Look Ma, No Hands" successfully delivered four satellites to orbit, [77] and in October 2019, the mission named "As the Crow Flies" successfully launched from Māhia LC-1, deploying a small satellite and its kick stage into a 400 km parking orbit. [78] In July 2020, the thirteenth Electron rocket launch failed with customer payloads on board, the first failure after the maiden flight. [79] In May 2021, the twentieth launch also failed. [80]

Notable launches

  • "Still Testing", Electron's first successful launch [81]
  • ELaNa-19 "This One's For Pickering", Electron's first NASA-sponsored launch [82]
  • NROL-151, "Birds of a Feather", Electron's first NRO-sponsored launch [83]
  • "Return to Sender", Electron's first ocean recovery of the first stage [84]
  • "It's a little Chile up here", Electron's first launch of the Space Test Program.
  • CAPSTONE, Electron's first launch to the Moon.
  • HawkEye 360 Cluster 6, "Virginia is for Launch Lovers", Electron's first launch from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

Launch statistics

This section is an excerpt from List of Electron launches § Launch statistics.[ edit ]
Electron
Electron rocket logo.svg
TROPICS Rocket Launch (KSC-20230507-PH-RLS01 0002-reupload) (cropped).jpg
Electron launching TROPICS in 2023
Function Small-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer Rocket Lab
Country of originNew Zealand [1]
United States [2] [3] [4]
Project costUS$100 million [5]
Cost per launchAbout US$7.5 million [6] [7]
Size
Height18 m (59 ft) [8]
Diameter1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) [9]
Mass13.0 t (28,700 lb) [9]
Stages2–3 [8] [10]
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass
  • Original: 225 kg (496 lb) [11]
  • Updated: 320 kg (710 lb) [11]
Launch history
StatusActive
Launch sites
Total launches56 [a]
Success(es)52 [a]
Failure(s)4
First flight25 May 2017
Last flight25 November 2024
First stage
Height12.1 m (40 ft)
Diameter1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) [8]
Powered by9 × Rutherford [8]
Maximum thrustSL: 224.3 kN (50,400 lbf) [8]
vac: 234 kN (53,000 lbf)
Specific impulse 311 s (3.05 km/s) [8]
Propellant RP-1/LOX [8]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Including suborbital flight of the HASTE program.

Related Research Articles

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