Rocket Lab launches commercial rocket

ROCKET LABRocket Lab's first commercial Electron rocket takes off from Mahia Peninsula

This launch marks the beginning of Rocket Lab's efforts to launch a rocket every week.

"You know, go into orbit once it's great, but redo it twice in a year, and then go to a launch rate at the speed that we have is really a transformation for all of the space industry ".

The launch was commissioned and monitored from the Mission Control Center located in the Rocket Lab's new Mount Wellington facility, which was opened by Star Trek actor William Shatner and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last month.

Sunday's mission, dubbed "It's Business Time," included satellites owned by Spire Global, Tyvak nano-satellite systems, fleet technologies, and the Irvine CubeSat program.

The two-story rocket, with a height of more than 17 meters, launched its nine main Rutherford engines fueled with kerosene at 3:50 GMT Sunday (22:50 EST Saturday) and is far away from Launch Complex 1, the Rocket Lab, privately operated space on the Mahia Peninsula, located on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand.

Developed internally, Electron is a two-stage rocket, with an optional extra step to place multiple payloads in different orbits. the Electron Curie's top floor also featured "NABEO, a sailing dredging technology demonstrator, designed and built by High Performance Space Structure Systems GmbH, to passively deorb passively inactive small satellites and reduce unnecessary waste," according to a statement from Rocket Lab. The first successful test of Electron rocket came in January this year.

During the live broadcast of the launch, Rocket Lab touted last-minute additions to its manifesto as an indication of its ability to quickly move into space. the Electron The vehicle has a payload capacity of 150 to 225 kg in a 500 km Sun Synchronous orbit and costs approximately $ 6 million per launch. "With the Electron launcher, quick and reliable access to space is now a reality for small satellites, "said Beck.

The JAXA successfully launched its ultra-small SS-520 in February 2018, making it one of the first to progress in launching a small rocket.

As noted by CNBC, the Electron The rocket is designed to carry a spacecraft up to the size of a refrigerator on a faster schedule than larger competitors like the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, even though it is more expensive than this one.