Rocket Lab Electron reaches orbit on second launch

Rocket Lab announced Jan. 20 that the second launch of its Electron small rocket was a success, reaching orbit and deploying three cubesats.
SpaceNews.com

            WASHINGTON – Rocket Lab announced Jan. 20 that the second launch of its Electron small rocket was a success, reaching orbit and deploying three cubesats.
The Electron lifted off from the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 8:43 p.m. Eastern (2:43 p.m. local time Jan. 21) on the second day of a nine-day launch window for the mission. A launch attempt a day earlier was scrubbed by a combination of boats in restricted waters off the launch site and a technical issue with the rocket.
The rocket, powered by nine Rutherford liquid oxygen and kerosene engines in its first stage, lifted off the pad after a problem-free countdown. The first stage shut down and separated two and a half minutes after launch, after which the second stage, with its single Rutherford engine, ignited for a burn lasting more than five a half minutes.
As the second stage shut down, launch controllers declared that the vehicle was in orbit. The stage subsequently released its three payloads, a Dove cubesat for Planet and two Lemur-2 cubesats for Spire. Planet later confirmed that its cubesat was in orbit following the launch.
“Today represents a significant milestone in opening up access to space, to better understand our planet and improve life on Earth,” Daniel Gillies, the commentator for the launch webcast, said after confirming that the rocket reached orbit.
The launch was the first for the Electron after the vehicle’s inaugural flight in May 2017 failed to reach orbit. The company said that the rocket worked as planned on that mission, but a telemetry problem triggered range safety systems about four minutes after liftoff, ending the mission.
In an interview earlier this month, Rocket Lab Chief Executive Peter Beck said that if the second launch was successful, the company would move ahead into commercial service with the rocket. The next Electron will be at the pad as soon as February, although he did not disclose who the customer would be for that mission if it is a commercial flight.
Electron is one of a new generation of small launch vehicles developed in recent years to serve the growing small satellite market. Electron is designed to place up to 150 kilograms into a sun-synchronous orbit, and its customers include Planet and Spire, as well as NASA and Moon Express.
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