Rocket Lab launched a booster with a flight-proven engine for the primary time today (Aug. 23), taking an enormous step toward rocket reusability.
An Electron rocket carrying an Earth-observation radar satellite for the San Francisco company Capella Space lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Latest Zealand site today at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT; 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 24 local Latest Zealand time).
Certainly one of the nine Rutherford engines on the Electron’s first stage was a spaceflight veteran, having launched on a mission this past May. It was the primary time an Electron had flown with a used engine — nevertheless it won’t be the last, if all goes in response to plan for Rocket Lab.
Related: Rocket Lab launches 1st Electron booster from US soil in twilight liftoff
“This mission is an enormous step toward reusable Electron rockets,” Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a preflight statement today.
“The engines we’re bringing back from previous recovery missions are performing exceptionally well through requalification and acceptance testing, so we’re excited to send one on its second trip to space as one in all the ultimate steps before reflying a complete first stage,” he added.
Rocket Lab’s recovery strategy is different than the one SpaceX employs with its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launchers. The 59-foot-tall (18 meters) Electron is simply too small to make powered landings after launch — it might probably’t carry enough fuel to have the requisite amount left over for such maneuvers — so Rocket Lab steers its boosters to soft, parachute-aided ocean splashdowns.
The corporate had seven such rocket returns under its belt already, and today’s mission, called “We Love the Nightlife,” made it eight. The Electron’s important chute deployed about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, and the booster hit the water roughly 11 minutes later.
As on previous recoveries, Rocket Lab will fish the rocket out of the ocean and haul it back to shore for inspection, evaluation, refurbishment and, perhaps, reflight.
The rocket recovery was a secondary aim on today’s flight, after all. The important goal was to get one in all Capella Space’s Acadia synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites safely to orbit.
The spacecraft was deployed right into a 400-mile-high (640 kilometers) circular orbit about 57.5 minutes after launch as planned, Rocket Lab confirmed today. After a checkout period, the satellite will begin studying Earth’s surface in radar light.
“Capella’s advanced radar technology penetrates all weather conditions — clouds, fog, smoke, rain — and captures clear imagery day and night, providing unparalleled insight into what is occurring anywhere on the globe at any given moment,” Rocket Lab wrote within the mission’s press kit, which you’ll find here.
“We Love the Nightlife” was Rocket Lab’s third mission for Capella Space and its fortieth launch overall. The flight was originally scheduled to launch in late July, but bad weather pushed it into early August. The corporate then delayed the liftoff to today, as a consequence of “a misbehaving engine” on the Electron.