наноспутники Lemur-2 – Electron – Mahia – 11.11.2018 03:50 UTC

Автор tnt22, 14.03.2018 08:53:36

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tnt22

http://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/its-business-time-at-rocket-lab/
ЦитироватьIt's Business Time at Rocket Lab
POSTED ON 13 MARCH 2018



Huntington Beach, California. March 13, 2018: US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has today confirmed its next launch will be the company's first fully commercial flight. Two Lemur-2 cubesats for launch customer Spire Global will be on board the upcoming launch, with the full manifest to be confirmed in coming weeks.

The flight's name was put to a vote on social media, with "It's Business Time" coming out as a clear fan favourite and a continuation of company's previous flight names, "It's a Test" and "Still Testing".

Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says "It's Business Time" highlights Rocket Lab's agile approach to responsive space. The launch has been manifested weeks out fr om launch, rather than the many months or years it can typically take under existing launch models.

"We came at the challenge of opening access to space from a new perspective. Building to tail numbers and tailoring a vehicle to the payload is a rigid and slow way of getting satellites on orbit. As the satellite industry continues to innovate at a break-neck pace and the demand for orbital infrastructure grows, we're there with a production line of Electron vehicles ready to go and a private launch site licensed for flight every 72 hours. Launch will no longer be the bottleneck that slows innovation in space," he says.

"We always set out to test a launch vehicle that was as close to production-ready as possible. To complete a test program so quickly and be flying commercial customers is a great feeling. It's business time," Mr Beck adds.

Rocket Lab's third Electron vehicle will be shipped to Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Māhia Peninsula in coming weeks, wh ere final checkouts will be completed ahead of the "It's Business Time" launch.

This year Rocket Lab is increasing its launch cadence and scaling up production of the Electron launch vehicle to meet a growing manifest. The company aims to produce 100 Rutherford engines in 2018 from its three-acre headquarters and production facility in Huntington Beach, California. More than 30 engines have already been completed and are undergoing integration onto Electron vehicles.

Rocket Lab's first test launch, "It's a Test," was completed in May 2017, with the second test, "Still Testing," taking place in January 2018. This flight successfully reached orbit, deployed commercial customer payloads for Planet and Spire Global and circularized an orbit using a previously unannounced kick stage.

For real-time updates in the lead up to "It's Business Time", follow Rocket Lab on Twitter @RocketLab

tnt22


tnt22

ЦитироватьChris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 3 ч. назад

FEATURE ARTICLE: Rocket Lab manifests third flight, aims for expanded flight rate and launch sites -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/03/rocket-lab-manifests-expanded-flight-rate-launch-sites/ ...

Part 2 of Chris Gebhardt's (@ChrisG_NSF) interview with @RocketLab CEO Peter Beck.

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поц

#3
ЦитироватьPeter Beck‏ @Peter_J_Beck 21 мин.21 минуту назад


So I decided my first tweet should share one of my favorite sights - a brand new #Electron being delivered to Launch Complex 1. #ItsBusinessTime is coming soon.

поц

#4
ЦитироватьPeter Beck‏ @Peter_J_Beck 14 ч.14 часов назад


Excited to be doing a Reddit AMA on r/space. Kicking off April 5 at 3:00 pm ET/ midday PT. (7:00am, 6 April for Kiwis).
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tnt22


tnt22

ЦитироватьChris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 11 мин. назад

Rocket Lab set Friday April 20, 2018 NZT for the first commercial mission with Electron. 14 day window of opportunity. Each day will have a four-hour launch window that will open from 12:30 p.m. NZDT (00:30 UTC).

tnt22

http://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-to-launch-first-commercial-mission-this-month/
ЦитироватьRocket Lab 'Its Business Time' launch window to open 20 April 2018 NZT
POSTED ON 3 APRIL 2018

Huntington Beach, California, 3 April 2018:

US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has today confirmed it will open a 14-day launch window this month to conduct the company's first fully commercial launch. The mission, named 'It's Business Time', includes manifested payloads for launch customers Spire Global and GeoOptics Inc., built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.

The 14-day 'It's Business Time' launch window will open on Friday April 20, 2018 NZT. During this time a four-hour launch window will open daily from 12:30 p.m. NZDT (00:30 UTC). 'It's Business Time' will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Licensed to launch every 72 hours, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 is the world's only private orbital launch facility.
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Rocket Lab is the only private, dedicated small launch provider globally that has deployed satellites to orbit. 'It's Business Time' marks the fastest transition a private launch provider has made from test program to fully commercial flights. This mission follows just three months after Rocket Lab's January 21, 2018 launch "Still Testing", which successfully deployed an Earth-imaging satellite for Planet and circularized the orbit of two weather and AIS ship tracking satellites for Spire Global using Rocket Lab's in-house designed and built kick stage.

"It's Business Time represents the shift to responsive space. We always set out to create a vehicle and launch site that could offer the world's most frequent launch capability and we're achieving that in record time," said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck.

"Rocket Lab is the only small launch provider that has reached orbit and delivered on promises to open access to space for small satellites. We can have payloads on orbit every 72 hours and our rapidly expanding manifest shows this is frequency is critical for the small satellite market," he added.

Rocket Lab can achieve an unprecedented launch frequency thanks to a vertically integrated vehicle manufacturing process that enables Rocket Lab to roll an Electron vehicle off the production line every week. To meet a burgeoning 2018/19 launch manifest, Rocket Lab has rapidly scaled production of the Electron launch vehicle across its three-acre headquarters and production facility in Huntington Beach, California. The company will produce 100 3D printed Rutherford engines this year to support a monthly launch cadence by the end of 2018.
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tnt22

ЦитироватьPeter Beck‏ @Peter_J_Beck 36 мин. назад

Vehicle checks almost complete, Team is really getting good at this now!

zandr

http://tass.ru/kosmos/5097583
ЦитироватьКомпания Rocket Lab запланировала первый коммерческий запуск спутников на конец апреля
ВАШИНГТОН, 5 апреля. /ТАСС/. Частная американская компания Rocket Lab в конце апреля планирует осуществить первый полностью коммерческий запуск своей 17-метровой ракеты-носителя Electron с несколькими спутниками на борту. Об этом говорится в сообщении, опубликованном во вторник на сайте компании.
Несмотря на то, что Rocket Lab базируется в США, свои ракеты в космос она планирует отправлять с принадлежащей ей стартовой площадки в Новой Зеландии. 14-дневное окно для запуска откроется с 20 апреля. Ежедневно в течение этого периода у компании будет четыре часа, чтобы запустить ракету по нужной траектории для последующего вывода спутников на орбиту. "Имеющий лицензию на проведение запусков каждые 72 часа пусковой комплекс Rocket Lab - единственная частная стартовая площадка для орбитальных запусков", - отмечается в сообщении компании. Первая ступень Electron оснащена сразу девятью двигателями, работающими на жидком кислороде и керосине. Вторая ступень имеет лишь один двигатель. Максимальная нагрузка не превышает 227 кг.
Впервые ракета была запущена в мае 2017 года. Пуск прошел неудачно - она так и не смогла доставить груз на орбиту. Однако 20 января носитель смог вывести в космос сферу около метра в диаметре, покрытую 65 треугольными отражателями. После этого руководство компании заявило, что готово принимать заказы у частных операторов спутников.
В этот раз клиентами выступили сразу две компании. Spire Global хочет запустить два очередных микроспутника формата "кубсат" Lemur-2. С их помощью ведется сбор данных о погоде, а также отслеживаются передвижения кораблей. Кроме того, GeoOptics, еще одна фирма, работающая в сфере метеорологии, хочет расширить свою группировку аппаратов на орбите за счет спутника, построенного инженерами Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.
К концу года Rocket Lab планирует запускать по одной ракете в месяц. Сами носители собираются в Калифорнии. По словам исполнительного директора компании Питера Бека, ее цель - закрепиться на рынке малых спутников.
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Согласно опубликованным в феврале данным базирующейся в Атланте аэрокосмической компании SpaceWorks, число таких аппаратов, запущенных в 2017 году, превысило даже наиболее оптимистичные прогнозы, но теперь для развития данного направления нужны новые компании. 2017 год в этом плане стал рекордным - в космос с Земли отправились более 300 спутников весом от одного до 50 кг.
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tnt22

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/06/rocket-lab-preps-for-first-commercial-satellite-launch/
ЦитироватьRocket Lab preps for first commercial satellite launch
April 6, 2018Stephen Clark


File photo of a test-firing of Rocket Lab's Rutherford engine. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab's first full-up commercial launch is set for April 19, U.S. time, from the company's privately-operated launch base in New Zealand with three U.S.-owned satellites to collect weather data.

The next Electron launch will loft two satellites owned by Spire Global and one for GeoOptics. Both companies are based in California, and are competitors in the market to gather weather and climate information with commercial spacecraft.
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The upcoming third flight of the company's commercially-developed Electron rocket will come after two test flights in May 2017 and in January. The maiden Electron launch fell short of orbit due to a ground tracking error that led safety officials to prematurely abort the flight, but the second mission in January successfully reached orbit.

As a bonus on the January test flight, the Electron deployed four satellites in orbit — two commercial CubeSats for Spire's weather data and ship tracking fleet, a CubeSat for Planet's Earth-imaging constellation and a Rocket Lab-owned reflective geodesic sphere named Humanity Star.

Rocket Lab nicknamed the first two Electron flights "It's a Test" and "Still Testing." Signifying Rocket Lab's orientation toward commercial operations, the next mission has been christened "It's Business Time."

The 14-day launch period opens at April 19 at 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT; 12:30 p.m. New Zealand time on April 20). There is a four-hour launch window available each day.

The Electron rocket will take off from Rocket Lab's space base on Mahia Peninsula, located on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.

"'It's Business Time' represents the shift to responsive space," said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab's founder and CEO. "We always set out to create a vehicle and launch site that could offer the world's most frequent launch capability and we're achieving that in record time."

"Rocket Lab is the only small launch provider that has reached orbit and delivered on promises to open access to space for small satellites," he said in a statement. "We can have payloads on orbit every 72 hours and our rapidly expanding manifest shows this is frequency is critical for the small satellite market."

The two-stage Electron rocket stands around 55 feet (17 meters) tall with a diameter around 3.9 feet (1.2 meters). It's all black carbon composite structure contains kerosene and liquid oxygen tanks that power 10 Rutherford engines — nine on the first stage and one on the second stage — developed in-house by Rocket Lab.

For comparison, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket stands nearly 230 feet (70 meters) tall. The space shuttle's orange external fuel tank measured nearly 28 feet (8.4 meters) in diameter.

But Rocket Lab says the Electron is perfectly sized to haul small satellites into orbit on dedicated, relatively low-cost missions. Officials say that will answer needs of commercial satellite operators, universities and governments trying to deploy payloads on shoestring budgets.

The Electron booster can carry up to 330 pounds (150 kilograms) to a polar orbit around 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth. The rocket's capacity to a lower-altitude orbit is up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms), according to Rocket Lab.

The rocket company, founded in New Zealand and headquartered in Southern California, says it can launch an Electron rocket for less than $5 million per flight.

Spire's two Lemur 2 CubeSats, each weighing around 10 pounds (less than 5 kilograms), launching on the next Electron rocket will track ships and collect environmental data. The GeoOptics CICERO satellite on the third Electron launch is built on an expanded CubeSat design.

The Spire and GeoOptics payloads will measure GPS satellite navigation signals passed through Earth's atmosphere to derive information about weather and climate.

A Rocket Lab spokesperson said a Curie kick stage will fly with the Spire and GeoOptics payloads. The extra propulsion module, which made its successful debut during the January test flight, will place the CubeSats at their intended altitude a few hundred miles above Earth, after the Electron rocket puts them in an initial parking orbit.


The mission patch for Rocket Lab's third Electron launch. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab's fourth Electron launch is expected to carry at least 10 CubeSats to orbit for NASA and U.S. research institutions. That flight could take off from New Zealand in the next couple of months.

In a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" event earlier this week, Beck said he expects Rocket Lab to begin generating positive cash flow by the Electron rocket's fifth flight, now that the launcher has finished its development phase.

Beck wrote that Rocket Lab aims to launch once per month by the end of this year, then once every two weeks in 2019. Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 facility on Mahia Peninsula can eventually host launches as often as once every 72 hours, he said.

The company's focus now is on accelerating the Electron rocket's flight rate.

"Our goal from the outset was always to produce one vehicle very well that could be produced on a mass scale," Beck wrote. "It's the only way to achieve the launch frequency the market needs. We're pumping out around one Electron a month at the moment. There will always be continual innovation in all areas of Rocket Lab."

There are no plans to make the Electron reusable or develop a bigger launcher.

"Reusability doesn't scale well for small rockets," Beck wrote. "No plans for an Electron Heavy. With Electron's lift capability, we could have launched the vast majority of spacecraft launched last year. If we doubled the potential payload mass, we could have only launched an additional 2 percent of the market. Doesn't stack up."

Rocket Lab plans to webcast the upcoming mission live online, but Beck said the company — which is based in the United States and falls under U.S. government regulations — is evaluating NOAA's new requirement for commercial rocket companies to obtain a license to broadcast live views from cameras on the launcher.

SpaceX said NOAA restrictions kept it from providing live on-board video during a commercial Falcon 9 launch March 30. NOAA has regulatory authority over commercial Earth-imaging from space, and is tasked with ensuring satellite-based cameras do not record sensitive activities like military deployments.

But live "rocketcam" views provided by launch companies like SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Rocket Lab are low-resolution, and generally have engines or other rocket components in the foreground.

NOAA did not require licenses before numerous previous launches that beamed live video from space, but the agency recently ruled that rocket-mounted cameras constitute "remote sensing systems," and should be subject to the law, which explicitly exempts hand-held cameras like those used by astronauts.

Government missions are not subject to the NOAA rule.
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tnt22

ЦитироватьPeter Beck‏ @Peter_J_Beck 15 ч. назад

The first #ItsBusinessTime mission patch arrived today. Looking good! They'll be up in the online store after launch.

tnt22


tnt22

ЦитироватьDeimos Imaging‏ @deimosimaging 11 ч. назад

This is how #ItsBusinessTime looked like from the orbit of #DEIMOS2 a few hours ago! The image was captured on April 12 at 23:26 (UTC)

tnt22

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12033191
ЦитироватьNEW ZEALAND
Rocket Lab fuelling issue prompts emergency service response
16 Apr, 2018 12:06am


A fuelling issue at a Rocket Lab dress rehearsal resulted in a emergency services response on Sunday, Rocket Lab chief executive says. Photo / Geoff Dale
NZ Herald

A fuelling issue at a Rocket Lab dress rehearsal has resulted in a emergency services response and activity on their landing pad on Mahia Peninsula suspended for the day.

Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck said the company "experienced a minor fuelling issue on the pad today during a wet dress rehearsal" on Sunday.
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"Our team is working through the data to ascertain the root cause. As per standard procedure, Fire and Emergency New Zealand is on site as a precautionary measure while the team closes out pad activities for the day."

Fire Emergency New Zealand have been approched for comment.

Earlier in the month Rocket Lab confirmed a 14-day window for its first fully commercial launch.

The US company, which launches from the Mahia Peninsula, confirmed on Wednesday an Electron satellite launch would have a window between April 20 and May 3.

It would deliver payload for customers Spire Global and GeoOptics Inc into orbit.

"It's Business Time represents the shift to responsive space," Beck said.

"We always set out to create a vehicle and launch site that could offer the world's most frequent launch capability and we're achieving that in record time."
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tnt22

#16
NOTMARs
ЦитироватьHYDROPAC 1454/2018 (29,76) 

SOUTH PACIFIC.
DNC 06, DNC 29.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS 200030Z APR
   TO 030430Z MAY IN AREA BOUND BY
   55-21S 179-06E, 55-12S 179-18W,
   62-33S 176-48W, 62-42S 178-51W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 030530Z MAY 18.

( 141854Z APR 2018 )


HYDROPAC 1455/2018 (76)

WESTERN SOUTH PACIFIC.
NEW ZEALAND.
DNC 06.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS 0030Z TO 0430Z DAILY
   20 APR THRU 03 MAY:
   A. ROCKET LAUNCHING IN AREA BETWEEN
   39-11.4S 39-48.0S AND 177-47.0E 178-00.0E.
   B. SPACE DEBRIS IN AREA BOUND BY
   43-54.0S 178-03.0E, 43-51.0S 178-45.0E,
   47-21.0S 179-42.0E, 47-27.0S 178-12.0E.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 030530Z MAY 18.

( 141904Z APR 2018 )

tnt22

ЦитироватьRocket Lab‏Подлинная учетная запись @RocketLab 35 мин. назад

This week during wet dress rehearsal the team saw some unusual behavior with a motor controller. With only days between rehearsal & window, we want a little extra time to fully review data, so have decided to roll to the next slot in a few weeks. Stay tuned!


34 мин. назад

The beauty of having our own pad means controlling our own windows!

Peter Beck‏ @Peter_J_Beck 33 мин. назад

This is why we do wet dress

29 мин. назад

Team just need time to look at it. No point in taking risks when its business time.

tnt22

http://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-moves-its-business-time-launch-window/
ЦитироватьRocket Lab moves 'It's Business Time' launch window
Apr 17, 2018

Rocket Lab will move the 'It's Business Time' launch, scheduled between 20 April – 3 May, to the next available launch window in coming weeks. The shift comes after pad team identified some unusual motor controller behavior during a wet dress rehearsal carried out this week. With just days between rehearsal and window opening, the call to move to the window is a conservative one made to allow the team additional time to review data.

Rocket Lab is able to operate with schedule flexibility and move into different windows as a result of operating its own private orbital launch site.

The new launch window is due to open in the coming weeks with defined dates to be confirmed soon.

tnt22

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/17/rocket-lab-postpones-first-commercial-launch-after-issue-during-fueling-test/
ЦитироватьRocket Lab postpones first commercial launch after issue during fueling test
April 17, 2018Stephen Clark


Rocket Lab's third two-stage Electron rocket on its launch pad in New Zealand last week in advance of a fueling test. Credit: Rocket Lab/Peter Beck

Rocket Lab said Tuesday it will push back the first commercial launch of its light-class Electron rocket from New Zealand by a few weeks to address a problem uncovered during a recent fueling test.

The company announced the launch slip on Twitter, saying that the Rocket Lab launch team "saw some unusual behavior with a motor controller" during a wet dress rehearsal, a test often employed by launch providers to practice countdown procedures and verify that rocket and ground systems are ready for liftoff.

"With only days between rehearsal & window, we want a little extra time to fully review data, so have decided to roll to the next slot in a few weeks. Stay tuned!" Rocket Lab tweeted.

The launch was expected during a two-week window beginning April 19, U.S. time.

The New Zealand Herald reported Monday that Rocket Lab experienced a "minor fueling issue" during the wet dress rehearsal Sunday, attributing the information to Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck. The newspaper reported emergency responders were on the scene at the company's launch base on Mahia Peninsula, located on the eastern shore of New Zealand's North Island, but did not say if fire services were normally on-site during fueling and launch operations.
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The upcoming launch, which Rocket Lab has christened "It's Business Time," will be first fully commercial flight by an Electron rocket. Rocket Lab's Electron launcher reached orbit for the first time in January, on its second test flight after a maiden mission fell short of orbit in May 2017 due to a ground tracking error that led safety officials to prematurely terminate the launch.

The Jan. 20 test flight placed four small satellites in orbit, but the mission's primary objective was to demonstrate the Electron's performance. The successful test flight led Rocket Lab officials to declare the launcher ready for commercial service, beginning with its next mission.

The Electron's third flight will deploy two CubeSats for Spire Global, and one nanosatellite for GeoOptics.

The Spire and GeoOptics payloads will measure GPS satellite navigation signals passed through Earth's atmosphere to derive information about weather and climate.

Rocket Lab's fourth launch will be dedicated to launching CubeSats sponsored by NASA and developed by U.S. research institutions.

The Electron booster can carry up to 330 pounds (150 kilograms) to a polar orbit around 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth. The rocket's capacity to a lower-altitude orbit is up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms), according to Rocket Lab.

The rocket company, founded in New Zealand and headquartered in Southern California, says it can launch an Electron rocket for less than $5 million per flight.
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