наноспутники – Electron – Mahia – 21.01.2018, 01:43 UTC

[tnt22]

12/15/2017 06:06

Sunday, Dec. 17, in New Zealand is the last launch date available in Rocket Lab's current 10-day launch period. The company says the pre-approved period could be extended into next week to allow more launch opportunities.

The original 10-day period, which opened Dec. 8, was granted by regulatory authorities overseeing the flight.

[Чебурашка]

А сегодня летим?

Ракета маленькая, а ощущение как в молодости - будто  шаттл после стопитсотого переноса запустить пытаются 

[che wi]

Перенесли на 2018 год.

Rocket Lab‏Verified account @RocketLab · 2h

#StillTesting launch attempt is now targeted for early 2018. Yesterday's power fault has been resolved, but with only one day remaining in the launch window we've decided to preserve crew rest and come back for an attempt in the new year.

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/12/16/rocket-lab-test-launch-delayed-to-early-2018/

Rocket Lab test launch delayed to early 2018
December 16, 2017 Stephen Clark


Credit: Rocket Lab

The launch of a light-class booster by Rocket Lab, a U.S.-New Zealand company aiming to provide rides to orbit for small satellites, has been delayed to early next year after technical reviews, repairs and unfavorable weather combined to keep the test flight grounded this week.

Спойлер

The mission's pre-approved 10-day launch window closes Sunday, and while officials may have been able to extend the window to launch next week, Rocket Lab announced Saturday the test flight fr om a commercial launch pad on New Zealand's North Island would be postponed into the new year.

A power system problem detected during ground checkouts ahead of a planned countdown Thursday (U.S. time) was one of several factors in the delay.

"Corrective measures have been put in place for the power fault discovered during ground checkouts yesterday, however with only one day remaining in the launch window Rocket Lab has made the decision to delay an attempt until the new year," the company said in a statement Saturday. "The current launch window ends on Sunday (Dec. 17) and will not be extended in order to preserve crew rest."

The break will give launch crews time off during the holidays.

Rocket Lab said new launch window dates will be released when they are established early in the new year.

A launch attempt Monday (U.S. time) was aborted at T-minus 2 seconds, a second after the Electron rocket's nine Rutherford main engines ignited. Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Peter Beck told Spaceflight Now that balmy weather at the New Zealand launch site caused cryogenic liquid oxygen propellant to get too warm, so the launch team planned to reconfigure the countdown's engine "chilldown" sequence to avoid the issue in the future.

High winds aloft over the launch site and other unacceptable weather conditions also prevented liftoff on some days during the 10-day window, according to Rocket Lab.

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket is awaiting its second test flight. Three small CubeSats owned by two California-based companies — Spire and Planet — are on-board the rocket, which will try to reach an elliptical, egg-shaped polar-type orbit between 186 miles and 310 miles (300-500 kilometers) above Earth.

Rocket Lab has dubbed the second Electron mission "Still Testing" after the maiden Electron launch May 25 successfully demonstrated the performance of the rocket's first stage, and partially tested the second stage. A ground tracking error led safety officials to prematurely terminate the flight around four minutes after launch from New Zealand.

The upcoming test flight will seek to verify the rest of the Electron flight profile, which should inject the three CubeSats into orbit around eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff.

Beck said engineers have set tight bounds on technical and weather parameters because the Electron rocket is still in its testing phase, prompting some of the launch scrubs over the last week.

Rocket Lab's two-stage Electron rocket, fueled by a mixture of rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen, stands around 55 feet (17 meters) tall and can place payloads up to 330 pounds (150 kilograms) into sun-synchronous orbit 300 miles (500 kilometers) above the planet.

For that service, Rocket Labs says it charges $4.9 million, significantly less than the price of any other dedicated launcher. Small satellite operators, including NASA, Silicon Valley firms and research institutions, have purchased rides for their payloads on Electron missions beginning next year.

Spacecraft that fall in the Electron's performance range currently have to book launches on rideshare missions. The schedules and orbital destinations for such missions are usually at the whim of a larger, primary payload, and the secondary passengers have little say in when or wh ere the rocket goes.

A small satellite launcher sized to give such payloads dedicated flights could find a niche in the launch market, and Rocket Lab is one of several companies developing rockets for microsatellites.

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[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/rocket-lab-abandons-still-testing-launch-campaign-until-early-2018/

Rocket Lab Abandons "Still Testing" Launch Campaign Until Early 2018
December 18, 2017


Photo: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is ending its "Still Testing" launch campaign for 2017, moving the second test flight of the company's Electron launch vehicle into early 2018 after encountering weather and technical delays over the course of a week of attempts.

Спойлер

"Still Testing" has the objective of demonstrating the last push to orbit after the first Electron test flight in May managed to reach space but fell short of orbit after taking off from New Zealand.
...

... the second Electron rocket traveled from the company's manufacturing base near Auckland to the Mahia launch site in the first half November. Assembly of the two stage rocket and integration of the CubeSat Deployers set the stack up for final acceptance tests before Electron moved to the launch pad for a Wet Dress Rehearsal on November 30 in preparation for a launch period of December 8 through 18 with daily launch windows stretching from 1:30 to 5:30 UTC (2:30-6:30p.m. local time).

Due to unfavorable upper level winds, Rocket Lab pushed the mission to a launch target of Monday, December 11, but that attempt was halted due to weather conditions and orbital traffic in the form of the International Space Station that left only six minutes of usable window time. Engineers re-grouped and pressed into a 24-hour recycle as winds aloft finally shaped up to meet the tight requirements set for Electron's test flight program with future operational missions capable of dealing with a greater range of conditions.

Electron stood fully fueled with 11.4 metric tons of Liquid Oxygen and Rocket Propellant 1 when teams initiated the 12-minute terminal countdown sequence, aiming for a 3:50 UTC liftoff on December 12. The vehicle was handed control of the countdown at T-2 minutes and commanded its nine electric-pump-fed Rutherford engines to fire up at T-2 seconds. Flames erupted from the base of the rocket for a fraction of a second before Electron's computers commanded an abort and shut down the first stage. Launch Controllers at the Mahia launch site and Rocket Lab's Auckland control facility verified Electron was safe before proceeding with data reviews of the anomaly.


Photo: Rocket Lab

Data reviews showed the shutdown was triggered due to rising Liquid Oxygen temperatures caused by the rocket's LOX chilldown bleed schedule that turned out to be insufficient for the warm temperatures seen for the launch attempt. Implementation of a procedural fix was straightforward through adjustment of LOX valve cycles to increase the bleed. With the fix in place, Rocket Lab proceeded for an attempt on the 13th but winds aloft once again came in the way of getting Electron off the pad.

An attempt on Friday saw teams proceed into vehicle activation and checkouts despite dicey upper level winds in the hopes of finding a window to safely send Electron on its way but efforts ended when a power system fault was discovered during ground checkouts. It was decided to troubleshoot the issue the following day which led to the successful resolution of the power system problem; however, Rocket Lab also made the decision to end attempts for 2017 and move the rocket back into the hangar for an attempt in early 2018.

Factors that played into the decision were crew rest considerations and the fact that only one day remained in the ten-day window that had been reserved for the mission with local authorities controlling the maritime and aeronautical safety zones around Mahia Peninsula. No new launch period has been reserved for the mission.


Photo: Rocket Lab

"Still Testing" has the primary objective of demonstrating Electron can reach orbit and the flight is also carrying three pathfinder satellites – two Lemur ship-tracking & atmospheric profiling satellites operated by Spire Global and a lone Dove from San Francisco-based Planet as both companies took the opportunity of launching inexpensive CubeSats on Electron to validate pre-launch integration and launch procedures for future launches since both are expected to become customers for regular Electron missions. ...

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[che wi]

9-дневное окно с 20 января, 1:30-5:30 UTC

Rocket Lab‏ @RocketLab · 1h

New year, new #StillTesting launch window! A nine day launch window opens January 20 NZDT for our second Electron rocket. Target lift-off during this time will be between 14:30 - 18:30 NZDT (1:30 - 5:30 UTC). We'll be live streaming.

[che wi]

Rocket Lab проведет второй испытательный запуск в конце месяца

Новозеландское поздразделение американской космической компании Rocket Lab запустит свою легкую ракету-носитель Electron во время девятидневного стартового окна, которое откроется 20 января. Об этом сообщается в пресс-релизе на официальном сайте компании.

Спойлер

Rocket Lab разрабатывала двухступенчатую ракету сверхлегкого класса Electron с 2012 года. Она может выводить до 225 килограмм на низкую околоземную орбиту и до 150 килограмм на солнечно-синхронную орбиту. Первый запуск ракеты состоялся в мае 2017 года и был признан неудачным — головная часть ракеты не смогла выйти на расчетную орбиту.

Второй запуск ракеты был запланирован на десятидневное стартовое окно, открывшееся 8 декабря 2017 года. В течение этого времени запуск Electron откладывали несколько раз. В итоге, еще до закрытия стартового окна было принято решение перенести запуск на январь.

Генеральный директор Rocket Lab Питер Бек (Peter Beck) сообщил, что конкретный день для успешного запуска во время стартового окна определят погодные условия и полная техническая готовность Electron.

Ракеты будет запущена со стартовой площадки компании на новозеландском полуострове Махия. С помощью Electron предполагается доставить на орбиту три спутника формата CubeSat: Dove Pioneer, предназначенных для съемки поверхности Земли, а также два спутника Lemur-2 с оборудованием для отслеживания морских судов и метеорологических наблюдений.

Другой космический стартап, американская компания Vector Space Systems, провела первый успешный запуск легкой коммерческой ракеты в августе прошлого года.

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[instml]

Другой космический стартап, американская компания Vector Space Systems, провела первый успешный запуск легкой коммерческой ракеты в августе прошлого года

Но не в космос...

[Димитър]

Вроде завтра - послезавтра запустить собираются.

[Pirat5]

интересно, как у них с погодой?

[Димитър]

Там сейчас лето

[Salo]

В декабре тоже было лето.

[Андрей Суворов]

Сегодня по Москве в 22:30?

[us2-star]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/954127104601292800

#StillTesting roll-out preparations are well underway today at Launch Complex-1. Tomorrow's four hour launch window opens at 14:30 NZDT (17:30 PT/ 20:30 ET / 1:30 UTC). Once again, we'll be waiting for ideal launch conditions. More updates to follow!


15:03 - 18 янв. 2018 г.

[Pirat5]

us2-star пишет: 
Once again, we'll be waiting for ideal launch conditions.

Подобное вроде было слышно и в декабре. Вероятно ветра в этой фразе не учитываются.
Посмотрим.

[Андрей Суворов]

us2-star пишет:
https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/954127104601292800

#StillTesting roll-out preparations are well underway today at Launch Complex-1. Tomorrow's four hour launch window opens at 14:30 NZDT (17:30 PT/ 20:30 ET / 1:30 UTC). Once again, we'll be waiting for ideal launch conditions. More updates to follow!


15:03 - 18 янв. 2018 г.

А, то есть, завтра по Москве в 4:30. Понятно. Не, в пол-пятого я точно буду спать...

[Димитър]

Какие-то новости?

[us2-star]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/954432085376159744

@RocketLab 18 минут назад

The #StillTesting launch window opens today! Currently targeting no earlier than 14:30 NZDT (17:30 PT/ 20:30 ET / 1:30 UTC). Launch preparations underway. Updates to come.

[Alex_II]

Андрей Суворов пишет:
А, то есть, завтра по Москве в 4:30. Понятно.

А трансляция пуска где-нибудь будет? Никто не знает?

[Pirat5]

может здесь?
https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/19/electron-still-testing-mission-status-center-2/