Rocket Lab Launches 16th
Mission, Completes Booster Recovery
20 November 2020
Rocket Lab has successfully
launched its 16th Electron mission and deployed 30 small
satellites to orbit – the largest number of satellites
deployed by Electron to date on a single mission.
The ‘Return to Sender’ mission also
saw Rocket Lab complete a successful splashdown and
recovery of the first stage of an Electron launch
vehicle for the first time, bringing the stage back to
Earth under a parachute after launch. The recovery of a
stage is a major milestone in Rocket Lab’s pursuit to
make Electron a reusable rocket to increase launch
frequency and reduce launch costs for small satellites.
Approximately two and a half
minutes after lift-off, at an altitude of around 80 km,
Electron’s first and second stages separated per
standard mission procedure. Once the engines shut down
on Electron’s first stage, a reaction control system
re-oriented the stage 180-degrees to place it on an
ideal angle for re-entry, enabling it to survive the
incredible heat and pressure known as “The Wall” during
its descent back to Earth. A drogue parachute was
deployed to increase drag and to stabilize the first
stage as it descended, before a large main parachute was
deployed in the final kilometers of descent. The stage
splashed down as planned. Rocket Lab’s recovery team
will transport the stage back to Rocket Lab’s production
complex, where engineers will inspect the stage to
gather data that will inform future recovery missions.
“What the team achieved today in
recovering Electron’s first stage is no mean feat. It
took a monumental effort from many teams across Rocket
Lab, and it’s exciting to see that work pay off in a
major step towards making Electron a reusable rocket,”
said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck.
The ‘Return to Sender’ mission
launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New
Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula at 15:20 NZT, 20 November
2020, deploying satellites for TriSept, Swam
Technologies, Unseenlabs, and the Auckland Programme for
Space Systems at The University of Auckland. The mission
brings the total number of satellites launched by Rocket
Lab to 95. Among the payloads deployed were satellites
designed to test new methods of deorbiting space debris,
enable internet from space, and build upon a maritime
surveillance constellation. The mission also saw New
Zealand’s first student-built payload deployed to orbit,
the APSS-1 satellite which is designed to monitor
electrical activity in Earth’s upper atmosphere to test
whether ionospheric disturbances might be linked to
earthquakes. Rocket Lab sponsored the project by
providing the launch at no cost to the University of
Auckland.
Joining the satellites for the ride
to orbit was a mass simulator shaped like a garden
gnome, launched to space in support of Starship
Children’s Hospital. Manufactured by award-winning
design studio Weta Workshop for Valve’s Gabe Newell,
Gnome Chompski is a 150 mm, 3D printed titanium gnome
created as a nod to an achievement in the game Half-Life
2 that sees players carry a gnome through the came
before depositing him in a rocket to be launched to
space. While watching Gnome Chompski get launched to
space for real was a spectacle enjoyed by gamers
worldwide, Mr. Chompski also served an important R&D
function by allowing Rocket Lab to test and qualify
novel 3D printing techniques that could be employed for
future spacecraft components. Gnome Chompski’s time in
space is limited though, as he remains attached to
Electron’s Kick Stage and will de-orbit with it when the
stage burns up on re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere.
For every person who watched the launch webcast, Mr.
Newell donated a dollar to the Paediatric Intensive Care
Unit at Starship Children’s Hospital. More than $280,000
has been raised.
“It’s a privilege to once again
provide access to orbit for our returning customers
Unseenlabs, Swarm Technologies, and TriSept, and to
deploy a satellite for the University of Auckland for
the very first time,” said Mr Beck. “Thank you to our
incredible customers, and to the tireless team behind
Electron who delivered mission success once again.”
|