Rocket Lab Launched NASA Solar Sail System And Korean Satellite

Space.com

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched the NEONSAT-1 Earth-observation satellite and NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) from New Zealand.  Credit: Rocket Lab

Transcript

00:0010, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, liftoff

00:30Beginning pitch normal

00:47Stage 1 propulsion is nominal

00:49The beginning of the swarm has begun its ride to space with that clean Electron liftoff from LC-1

00:55Electron's trajectory will take it up and over the South Pacific Ocean as it heads away from the launch pad

01:01Our first mission milestone will be Max-Q, otherwise known as Maximum Aerodynamic Pressure

01:07which is the moment where Electron experiences the most amount of stress as it climbs through the atmosphere

01:12We're coming up on that moment now and expecting to hear the call for Max-Q shortly

01:17A3 battery discharge nominal

01:27Cleared Max-Q

01:32That is Electron clear through Max-Q

01:35with the rocket now at 15km in altitude and moving at over 2,200km an hour

01:43Next up, Electron will perform three actions that are only seconds apart

01:47The first is called MECO or Main Engine Cut-Off

01:50and this is when the nine engines that you can see glowing at the bottom of the rocket there

01:54shut off in preparation for the second step

01:57and that move is called out as Stage Separation

02:00when the first stage of Electron separates from its second and falls back to Earth

02:04Now the third call out after separation should be Second Stage Engine Ignition

02:09when the single vacuum-optimised Rutherford engine fires up to maintain the mission's course to low Earth orbit

02:15Now those three events are approaching fast, so we'll bring up the audio channels from Mission Control now

02:2715 seconds to staging

02:30Entered burnout detect mode

02:40MECO confirmed

02:57There we go, that was MECO, Stage Separation and Engine Start on the second stage

03:02We have had a nice clean camera feed of those things happening

03:05with the camera view now held on the second stage engine as it powers the mission on

03:10Beginning of the swarm is now over 100km above Earth, past the Karman line

03:15and moving at more than 8,000km an hour

03:18The next mission milestone is fairing jettison or separation of the nose cone

03:22and that's what protects NeonSat-1

03:27As you just saw, fairing jettison is now complete

03:31As you just saw, fairing jettison is now complete

03:34We dropped those two fairing hubs early into the mission

03:37because they're not needed for satellite protection anymore now that we're through Earth's atmosphere

03:41That dead weight is gone and the mission is now a step closer to our first payload deployment at 520km

03:49We have a couple of minutes to go until our next mission milestone

03:53and that will be the battery hot swap on the second stage

03:56currently expected to take place at the T-plus 6 minutes 22nd mark

04:01Right now though, Electron's second stage is continuing along nicely

04:05to our target apogee of 520km for our first payload deployment for Kite

04:11Right now though, Electron's second stage is continuing along nicely

04:12to our target apogee of 520km for our first payload deployment for Kite

04:18This Kite satellite is the first of up to 11 satellites planned by them

04:23which will help to increase the programme's observation rates

04:26of once every 2-3 days to 3-4 times daily

04:41It's T-plus 4 minutes into the mission

04:52Electron is still progressing smoothly through flight

04:55and all remains healthy with KIST and NASA's satellites

04:58For NASA's payload, packed into this small satellite are composite booms

05:02that will unfurl once the payload is deployed

05:05much like how a butterfly's wings emerge from its cocoon

05:08This satellite will test how the pressure of sunlight pushing against its sails

05:12moves the satellite around

05:14The closer to the sun, the better to test its solar sail technology

05:17hence the reason for this mission requirement of a much higher orbit

05:21than the primary payload on Electron today

05:38Throttling down

05:49T-plus 5 minutes 32 seconds and our launch operator's next call out

05:54will be for the battery hot swap

05:56Our rocket engine's pump is battery powered

05:59and since it's been flying for a while now

06:01its power source is starting to run low

06:04So to keep the engine and the mission going

06:06Electron's engine power system swaps to a new battery pack

06:10for fresh and continuous energy supply to the electric pumps

06:14The old set of batteries will be discarded

06:16which you can sometimes see on the screen as it happens

06:19So let's listen in to Mission Control for that call

06:41Hot swap successful

06:46And as confirmed by Mission Control

06:48battery hot swap has been completed for the second stage Rutherford engine

06:52Propulsion remains nominal

06:54and the mission is continuing on its journey

06:56to that first payload deployment with KAIST and NEONSAT-1

07:00Now of course once NEONSAT-1 is deployed

07:02that is only the first of two satellites to be released on this mission

07:06Electron is also carrying NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System satellite

07:11that will be deployed at twice the altitude we're heading to now

07:14from 520 km above Earth to 1000

07:18To do that we'll first need to repeat the stage separation process

07:22we completed earlier in the mission

07:24this time separating Electron's third stage, or kick stage

07:27from the second stage that's currently firing hot on your screen

07:31That second engine cut-off milestone

07:33which you'll hear called out at SECO

07:35is expected at around 9 minutes into the mission

08:05T-plus 7 minutes 47 seconds into the flight

08:08and the mission is continuing nominally

08:10If you take a glance over at the right of your screen

08:13you'll see some telemetry from Electron's second stage

08:16showing us that we have about 16% of propellant remaining

08:20We're currently cruising along at a speed of over 21,000 km an hour

08:25and approaching an altitude of almost 209

08:48We're coming up now to engine cut-off on the second stage

08:52the last action this stage will perform for the mission

08:55Much like with the first stage

08:57Electron will power down the Rutherford engine on the second stage

09:00to allow the kick stage to separate cleanly

09:03We time the engine shutdown for right as we reach that target perigee of 250 km

09:08Let's listen out for the engine shutdown and stage separation now

09:22SECO confirmed

09:40A great call from Mission Control

09:42The second stage engine has turned cold

09:44and the kick stage has separated

09:46ready to begin the payload deployment process

09:49This mission of course is a little different to a regular Electron mission

09:53so here is a reminder of how today's two deployments will work

09:57Now that the kick stage has been released

10:00it will now go into a phasing orbit of Earth

10:03Because it's been set into an elliptical orbit from its perigee

10:07it needs to head around to the other side of the planet

10:10to an apogee of 520 km

10:13before it fires up the Curie engine to course correct into a circular orbit

10:18Now once it does, Neonsat-1 will be deployed to begin its mission for Keist

10:23and that will be phase 1 for the kick stage

10:26Phase 2 will see it light up its engine again

10:29to perform an apogee raise to 1000 km

10:32the target altitude for NASA's satellite

10:34That apogee raise will bring the kick stage out of a circular orbit

10:38and back into another elliptical one

10:40Here the kick stage will do another half pass of Earth

10:43before the dots reconnect again at 1000 km

10:46where it will light up its Curie engine for a third time

10:49to circularise its orbit before payload deployment

10:52Once that's done it will be on to phase 3

10:55The Curie engine will ignite a fourth and final time

10:59to undo its circularisation

11:01and bring it back into an elliptical orbit

11:04This orbit lowering manoeuvre will help to speed up the kick stage's de-orbit

11:08doing our best to keep space as tidy as possible

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