Rocket Labs The Owls Night Continues to make first launch from LC-1B at Mahia

Date:
Mon, 28 Feb 2022 19:31:49 +0000

Description:
Rocket Lab is scheduled to make its first launch from the second launch pad
at The post Rocket Labs The Owls Night Continues to make first launch from LC-1B at Mahia appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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Rocket Lab is scheduled to make its first launch from the second launch pad
at its spaceport in Mahia, New Zealand on Tuesday, in the second of four planned missions for the Japanese earth observation company Synspective.



Tuesdays mission, The Owls Night Continues , is a follow-on to the December 2020 launch named The Owls Night Begins, which was also flown for
Synspective. It is scheduled to launch aboard an Electron launch vehicle at 09:37 local time (20:37 UTC; 3:37pm EST on Monday) from the newly-finished Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) launch pad, which started construction in late
2019.

The payload for The Owls Night Continues is Synspectives StriX- Earth observation satellite, equipped with an X-band synthetic aperture radar. It
is the second demonstrator craft built by the company.



The 100-kilogram spacecrafts radar antenna is 5 meters long when deployed,
and it is capable of imaging a 30-kilometer swath at 3-meter resolution in strip-mapping mode or a 10-kilometer swath at 1-meter resolution in sliding spotlight mode.

Rocket Labs Electron rocket will deploy StriX- into a sun-synchronous orbit inclined 97 degrees to the Equator, at an altitude of 561 kilometers.

This is the first of two satellites Rocket Lab is planning to launch this
year for Synspective, with another launch also scheduled for 2023.

Unlike optical imaging satellites, spacecraft equipped with synthetic
aperture radar can observe Earth even through clouds and in darkness. Synspective plans to create a constellation of operational spacecraft to perform these observations while orbiting the Earth.

StriX- and the upcoming StriX-1 commercial prototype satellite, which is scheduled to launch later this year, will serve as precursors to this constellation. StriX- undergoing final pre-launch preparations (Credit: Synspective)

StriX- is one of a number of Earth observation satellites that have launched recently to carry out radar mapping missions, as demand grows for near real-time imaging of disaster areas along with agriculture, forestry, sea-level monitoring, and other uses. For Synspective, one use case is to observe Asian cities at the same time every day after the first six
satellites are launched. See Also The Owls Night Continues Updates Rocket Lab Electron Forum Section L2 MasterSection Click here to Join L2

From sun-synchronous orbit, the StriX- spacecraft will be able to observe the same spots on Earth at the same time every day, which will enable users to track any changes and trends at specific locations. The satellite can cover the Earths surface, from pole to pole.

The StriX- and StriX- demonstrators are the precursors to Synspectives operational satellites. The company hopes to have six satellites in orbit by the end of this year, on the way to building a full constellation of 30 spacecraft. The target date for completion of the constellation is not known at this time.

Synspectives constellation is expected to allow wide-area, high-frequency observations of the Earth. Between Synspectives constellation and others like COSMO-SkyMed, Chinas Ludi Tance, and others, radar observations will become increasingly available for most spots on Earth, under multiple radar bands.

Electron Launch

Rocket Labs Electron launch vehicle consists of two stages, with an optional kick stage to help insert satellites into precise orbits. It is designed to launch up to 200 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit or 300 kilograms to other low Earth orbits.

The Electrons first stage is equipped with nine Rutherford engines, using
RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen as its fuel and oxidizer. The engines are 3D printed, with battery-powered electric pumps to deliver fuel to the
combustion chamber. Rocket Lab is working towards making Electrons first
stage reusable. Electron is assembled ahead of Tuesdays launch (Credit:
Rocket Lab)

The Electron that will launch StriX- into orbit has a red band painted on it, which means it is equipped with recovery hardware. The recovery systems will be tested as part of the development process, however Rocket Lab is not expected to make an attempt to recover the rockets first stage on this
flight.

The first stage powers Electron through the early phases of flight. Two and a half minutes after launch, the first stage engines shut down, the stage separates, and the second stage ignites its engine.

Tuesdays mission will use a larger payload fairing, optimized for Synspective satellites, which will separate around the 184-second mark in the flight. The battery hot-swap, which sees the second stage transition from and then jettison depleted batteries, occurs around the 388-second mark.

The second stage is equipped with a single vacuum optimized Rutherford
engine, with a larger nozzle to make it more efficient at altitudes where the Earths atmosphere is thin or negligible. Like the first stage, this stage is also fueled by RP-1 and liquid oxygen.

Around 535 seconds after liftoff, Electrons second stage engine will cut off with the vehicle in an initial parking orbit. The kick stage will then be deployed, which will place the StriX- satellite into its proper sun-synchronous orbit. The stage will then deorbit a short time later to keep it from becoming space junk.

New Launch Pad

The Owls Night Continues is the first mission that Rocket Lab will have
flown from its second launch pad. What's better than one Electron on the pad? How about two? With Pad B at Launch Complex 1 now up and running, we're bringing you the full virtual tour of our spaceport in all its glory. pic.twitter.com/ypHE0FCZck

Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) February 23, 2022



This new infrastructure will double the number of missions that can be conducted from the companys Mahia launch facility , allowing a maximum of 120 launch opportunities per year. Alongside the new LC-1B at Mahia, the LC-2 facility at Wallops Island, Virginia in the United States has also been built, giving Rocket Lab three launch pads on two continents thousands of kilometers apart.

Although the worlds first private launch facility now has two pads and increased capacity, it remains to be seen whether the crowded small satellite launcher market can support the full flight cadence that Rocket Lab wants. So far, Rocket Lab has flown 23 Electron vehicles, 20 successfully, over nearly five years. Its highest flight rate was seven launches in 2020.

The Owls Night Continues is the first mission of 2022 for Rocket Lab. This
is Rocket Labs first full year as a publicly-traded company, and its focus
has changed from strictly launch services to offering end-to-end services for customers including building satellites.

This has been reflected by the recent acquisitions the company has made, and the pivot is no doubt due to changes and competition in the small-satellite launch market which has seen competition from many sources including SpaceXs rideshare missions, which offer lower costs for its customers.

As another example of change in Rocket Labs focus, a new corporate logo was recently introduced that eliminated the rocket and replaced it with a
stylized R. Rocket Lab has also begun the development of a reusable medium-lift launcher, Neutron, which is also planned to be rated to fly
crewed missions. Such missions had previously been ruled out by Rocket Lab founder, Peter Beck. Electrons two launch pads at Mahia (Credit: Rocket Lab)

As Rocket Lab adapts to a changing and more competitive launch market, the company faces an important year in which eight missions are currently
planned, including the CAPSTONE lunar mission in late spring and at least two flights for the US National Reconnaissance Office. A booster recovery by helicopter is also planned, and it is possible that the first reused booster could also fly this year, though that remains to be seen.

Starting with The Owls Night Continues , continued mission successes and development will be critical for Rocket Lab and its future as the small
launch market continues to evolve, with the possibility of a shakeout in the sector in the near future.

Lead image: Electron ahead of Tuesdays launch (Credit: Rocket Lab)

The post Rocket Labs The Owls Night Continues to make first launch from LC-1B at Mahia appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/02/the-owls-night-continues/


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