Rocket Lab launches first Electron from new Virginia facility
The AO Editors
Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket Launches from Virginia LC-2 Facility on Tuesday, Jan. 24
Image Credit: Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab, the New Zealand-based space technology company, successfully completed its first Electron launch from its new launch site in Virginia on January 24th, 2023. The Electron rocket took off from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located on Wallops Island, Virginia, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. This marked the first time that Rocket Lab had launched its Electron rocket from the United States and it was a long-awaited moment for the company.
The Electron rocket is a two-stage vehicle that placed a kick stage into orbit a little more than nine minutes after liftoff. Approximately one hour after launch, the kick stage was used to deploy the payloads, which consisted of three HawkEye 360 satellites, into orbit. Due to a problem with a ground station, however, confirmation of the deployment was delayed by more than a quarter-hour. The HawkEye 360 satellites, also referred to as the "Cluster 6" satellites, were launched into a 550-kilometer orbit with an inclination of 40.5 degrees. They will join the company's constellation of satellites to locate and monitor terrestrial radio-frequency (RF) sources.
Rocket Lab's "Virginia Is For Launch Lovers" mission was a significant milestone for the company. Rocket Lab had worked for years to establish a launch site in the United States in order to better serve its government and other customers who preferred domestic launches. The company broke ground on Launch Complex 2 in October 2018, and it will be declared complete in December 2019, with the first launch scheduled for the middle of 2020. However, certification delays for the autonomous flight termination software developed by NASA caused multiple launch delays and pushed back the first launch by several years. In October 2022, the NASA Autonomous Flight Termination Unit (NAFTU) was finally certified and transferred to Rocket Lab, which integrated it into its Pegasus on the Electron system.
Rocket Lab had originally planned to conduct the launch in December 2022 but encountered several issues, including poor weather conditions and range-related paperwork involving NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration that took longer to resolve than expected. Rocket Lab was particularly frustrated by the paperwork issue, which arose just days before the scheduled launch. Rocket Lab successfully launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 2 in Virginia despite these setbacks, marking its first launch of the year.
In a November earnings call, Rocket Lab stated that it was planning to conduct approximately 14 Electron launches in 2023, after conducting 9 launches in 2022. The company projected that four to six of these launches would take place from Wallops Island, including two launches in the spring to deploy NASA's four Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) cubesats under a task order NASA announced in November. According to the CEO of Rocket Lab, Peter Beck, customer preference plays a significant role in determining which launch site to use. HawkEye 360, for example, chose to launch from Wallops Island as it is based in Virginia. Wallops Island is also anticipated to be used by U.S. government agencies for Electron launches; however, Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand is anticipated to host the majority of Electron launches due to the company's complete control over the launch range there.
