Catch Me If You Can: Rocket Lab to attempt mid-air recovery again

Date:
Fri, 04 Nov 2022 15:16:19 +0000

Description:
Six months after its first first-stage recovery attempt, Rocket Lab is
looking to try its The post Catch Me If You Can: Rocket Lab to attempt
mid-air recovery again appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Six months after its first first-stage recovery attempt, Rocket Lab is
looking to try its hand at booster recovery once again, with the launch of
its 32nd mission, Catch Me If You Can. Liftoff is set to take place no
earlier than Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, at 6:27 AM NZDT (17:27 UTC on Friday, Nov. 4).

The California-based launch services company made its first attempt at first-stage recovery and reuse during its 26th mission, named There And Back Again. A successful mid-air catch via helicopter was made, though unexpected load characteristics necessitated a drop and an ocean recovery.



The Catch Me If You Can mission will utilize Rocket Labs workhorse launch vehicle: the two-stage, partially reusable Electron. With 31 total flights since its debut in 2017 and a 90% rate of success, the Electron rocket serves as a leading example in the small satellite launch market.



The mission is due to launch from Pad B (LC-1B) at Rocket Labs Launch Complex 1, located on the Mhia Peninsula in New Zealand. With Pad A just a short distance away from Pad B, the private spaceport can support simultaneous mission campaigns from the same site, thereby increasing the companys launch cadence.

See Also Catch Me If You Can Updates NSF Store L2 SpaceX Section Click here to Join L2

Catch Me If You Can will mark the ninth launch of 2022 for Rocket Lab and the second mission geared towards stage reusability the first being the previously mentioned There and Back Again mission which launched on May 2.

Recovery of the Electron rockets first stage will be limited to a secondary goal for Saturdays mission, with the primary aim being the successful launch and deployment of a single science research satellite for Sweden.

The Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy (MATS) spacecraft was developed by space systems provider OHB Sweden for the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). The spacecraft is expected to study the upper layer of Earths atmosphere and its interactions with wind and weather patterns from a 585 km Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

The satellite has a launch mass of approximately 50 kilograms and features
two science instruments: a limb imager and a nadir imager that are designed
to view the Earths atmosphere in varied wavelength intervals. The MATS
payload was originally expected to fly on a Russian launch vehicle before being reassigned to Rocket Labs Electron. Payload integration complete with OHB Sweden & @RymdstyrelsenSE for MATS! This Swedish national science mission is launching on Electron's recovery mission Nov 04 UTC more info. https://t.co/Uc9nTRitaa pic.twitter.com/dkfw9cbkwl

Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) November 2, 2022



Booster Recovery

In 2019, Rocket Lab divulged their recovery and reuse plans for Electron, which initially was not designed with such capabilities in mind. However, thanks to an increased understanding of vehicle performance and a need to
meet launch demands, the company elected to pursue reusability for the foreseeable future.

Unlike SpaceXs Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets which use retropropulsion
to land themselves (either at sea on any of the companys three drone ships or back on land at designated Landing Zones if mission performance requirements allow) Rocket Labs Electron booster can be caught in mid-air using a helicopter while descending under a parachute.

Work on implementing reuse began in earnest in the spring of 2019 with Electron flights six and seven (Thats a Funny Looking Cactus and Make It Rain), where both Electron rockets featured new instruments on the first
stage to help gather data for future recovery attempts. Flight eight (Look
Ma, No Hands) built on this with Brutus, an instrument designed to survive reentry and be retrieved after splashdown. Catch Me If You Can? Challenge accepted. In two days' time, here's how we'll attempt to catch Electron with
a helicopter as the rocket returns from space.

More mission info: https://t.co/Uc9nTRitaa pic.twitter.com/XgPRl5x7r2

Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) November 2, 2022



Later, Rocket Lab introduced a block update for the Electron first stage as part of Flights 10 and 11 (Running Out Of Fingers and Birds Of A Feather) in order to allow for guided reentry attempts. Upgrades included additional hardware for guidance and navigation, onboard flight computers, a reaction control system (RCS), and a new heat shield at the base of the vehicle. These new updates functioned as intended, helping the booster survive reentry despite the absence of deceleration hardware.

Following Flight 11, in February 2020, Rocket Lab began conducting low-altitude parachute tests using an Electron test article. Mid-air
retrieval was successfully demonstrated with one such test in March, where
the test article was dropped and subsequently snagged by a helicopter with a long boom. Following the catch attempt, the test article was brought back to land.

In November 2020, during Electron Flight 16 (Return To Sender), Rocket Lab successfully recovered a first stage for the first time via a controlled
water landing in the Pacific Ocean, using a set of parachutes to decelerate
to a safe velocity. This ocean recovery method would be used on two later missions (Flight 20 Running Out Of Toes and Flight 22 Love At First Insight, respectively).

These efforts eventually culminated in the briefly successful mid-air booster recovery attempt which took place during the There And Back Again mission on May 2, 2022. Shortly after the catch, the recovery helicopter pilot took notice of unexpected load characteristics and released the stage to ensure
the safety of the recovery crew. Electron descends under parachute, waiting
to be captured by helicopter during the There And Back Again mission. Credit: Rocket Lab

The Catch Me If You Can mission will also feature an attempt at a mid-air recovery, with the help of a Rocket Lab-owned and customized Sikorsky S-92 two-engine helicopter. Shortly before liftoff, the craft and its three-person crew (pilot, co-pilot, and rocket spotter) will deploy to the catch zone, located approximately 160 nautical miles off the coast of New Zealand.

Launch and Recovery

The 18-meter high and 1.2-meter wide Electron uses liquid kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants for its nine first-stage Rutherford engines and a single vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine on the second stage. Propellant loading begins several hours before launch. Following the completion of propellant loading, a pre-launch go/no-go poll is conducted at T-18 minutes. If the poll is a go, Electron and mission control teams will enter terminal count at T-10 minutes, with launch auto sequence beginning at T-2 minutes.

At T0, Electron will ignite the nine first-stage Rutherford engines at the bottom of the rocket and lift off LC-1B. Electron will reach maximum aerodynamic pressure (Max Q) at approximately T+1:20, and Electrons first and second stages will separate at approximately T+2:32 minutes into flight at
the completion of the first-stage burn.

Electron will then ignite the single vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine on
the second stage and begin the second stage portion of the ascent profile.
The MATS payload will continue to orbit with the second stage while the first stage begins its descent.

After reentering the atmosphere, at approximately T+7:20 minutes after liftoff, the Electron booster will deploy a drogue parachute to stabilize and partially slow the vehicle. The main parachute will deploy approximately 50 seconds later to further reduce its velocity to ~10 meters per second.

As Electron enters the capture zone, the helicopter crew will shadow the booster from above, matching its speed and descent before moving in to
capture the parachute engagement line via a hook on a boom. The catch attempt will occur approximately T+18 minutes into the flight.

Once captured and secured, Electron will be flown back to Rocket Labs production facility in Auckland, where technicians will perform inspections and assess its suitability for reuse.



Second-stage engine cutoff occurs at T+9:11, with the separation of the Curie kick-stage engine occurring eight seconds later. At T+51:32, the Curie engine will ignite for a one-and-a-half-minute burn before payload separation. MATS is expected to be deployed from the Curie kick-stage at T+1 hour.

The pump-fed Rutherford engines on Electrons first stage have, so far, proven to be up to the task, as Rocket Lab has successfully fired a reused engine from the There And Back Again mission. According to Rocket Lab, the engine produced full thrust and performed multiple restarts, passing the same acceptance tests that are conducted on each motor before launch.

With the mid-air recovery method, Rocket Lab hopes to reduce the amount of work required for booster turnaround, leading to a more rapid cadence for reflights.

A successful launch during Saturdays mission would continue to build on a stellar 2022 launch campaign for Rocket Lab, having compiled a 100% success rate on the year so far across eight flights, including the successful launch of the CAPSTONE lunar mission for NASA on June 28. Eastern Shore, meet Electron

After more than 30 missions from LC-1, it's almost LC-2's turn. Launching in December for our mission partner @hawkeye360 . pic.twitter.com/9aMKunP3GQ

Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) October 19, 2022



Another Electron mission is slated to launch before the end of the year, acting as the long-anticipated debut of Rocket Labs first U.S.-based spaceport: Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The mission is expected to be a rideshare mission, featuring multiple customer payloads.

(Lead photo: Antipodean Adventure on the pad at LC-1B in August 2022.
Credit: Rocket Lab)

The post Catch Me If You Can: Rocket Lab to attempt mid-air recovery again appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/11/catch-me-if-you-can/


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