Upcoming New Zealand Space Launch

[hendorog]

Are the last minute diagnostic checks being performed with Fluke meters or Uni-T ?

Launch pad wind testing instrument:
https://twitter.com/RocketLabUSA/status/866200524634247168

[stj]

Are the last minute diagnostic checks being performed with Fluke meters or Uni-T ?

for patriotic reasons, it should be done with something from Dick Smith 

[Brumby]

Their first launch to space.



I like the reaction when Peter Beck goes outside the hut for "visual confirmation".....

[tszaboo]

Soo, back to launching space ships.
Isnt New Zealand a bad place to actually do this? I mean it requires more energy, isnt it?

Compared to what?

Yeah, the closer to the equator the lower the energy needed, with the savings in m/s of deltaV proportional to the cosine of the latitude, up to a maximum of about 460 m/s saved (launching on the equator) out of 7800 m/s orbital velocity plus another 1500 - 2000 m/s lost to air resistance.

Northern NZ is 34.5 south, saving 380 m/s
RocketLabs site at Mahia NZ is 39s, saving 357 m/s
Cape Canaveral is 28.5 north, saving 404 m/s
Baikonur is at about 46 north, saving 320 m/s

So Mahia is less than 50 m/s worse than Cape Canaveral, out of a total budget needed of 9500+ m/s. No biggie.

OK. Never really did the calculations or looked it up. That is indeed a small difference in cost. Thanks for the info.

[hendorog]

Winner winner chicken dinner!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11862250

https://twitter.com/RocketLabUSA/status/867619797021859840

[brucehoult]

Appears not to have made it to orbit.

[Brumby]

It seemed like it was textbook stuff - except they didn't make orbit.  That would have been sooooooo close to a perfect result.

Considering it was their first attempt, you have to give them full credit for such a fantastic result.



Tonight will be celebrations ... and tomorrow will start the analysis.

Can't wait for their next launch.

[tautech]

Appears not to have made it to orbit.

Yeah, hmmmm.
Wondered if they entered Muttley's coordinates for NK instead ? 

[Electro Detective]

Who pays for all this stuff and what's the point?

It's been done already, how can they HOPE to compete at any level with the established players anyway?

We need multimeters launched and separated from tool bags
which survive a 600 foot drop on to concrete,
that's R+D worth watching 

[brucehoult]

Who pays for all this stuff and what's the point?

The investors now, and the customers later?

It's been done already, how can they HOPE to compete at any level with the established players anyway?

Because the established players (other than SpaceX about which people were saying the same things ten years ago) are huge slow-moving dinosaurs sucking on the government teat happy with their cost-plus (i.e. guaranteed X% profit margin) contracts to launch barely upgraded 1960s ICBMs that were never designed for either reusability or for low cost manufacture or operations.

Anyone using modern technology, design for manufacture, and lean operations will easily beat BoeiLockMartAriaRoscosmos, if they can actually make their stuff work.

[hendorog]

Who pays for all this stuff and what's the point?

It's been done already, how can they HOPE to compete at any level with the established players anyway?

Thats the $64k question isn't it...

On the plus side:
They have developed some novel tech for building low cost rockets.
It also looks like they are building everything targeting a particular weight payload - instead of 'over-engineering' now with a view to upsizing in the future.
They are also talking about having the ability to make more launches per year due to the remote location.
There are plenty of bookings already - viewable on their website.
It's an emerging market - perhaps they don't need to compete at all as demand exceeds supply?

[Electro Detective]

Wouldn't it be more practical and profitable to invest in cargo planes now
rather than blow cash on one way disposable rockets?

The missile makers have been on top of this game for decades,
what's to stop them from moving in on this 'lucrative' industry any time they see a fast buck on the horizon?

Someone needs to word these guys up before they're forced to sleep on park benches and front up to soup kitchens for a feed 

[brucehoult]

There are plenty of bookings already - viewable on their website.

URL? I couldn't find it.

Google "spacex launch manifest" finds first hit http://www.spacex.com/missions

"rocketlab launch manifest" is not helpful, and neither was 10 minutes of browsing around on their very pretty but annoying site.

[hendorog]

There are plenty of bookings already - viewable on their website.

URL? I couldn't find it.

Google "spacex launch manifest" finds first hit http://www.spacex.com/missions

"rocketlab launch manifest" is not helpful, and neither was 10 minutes of browsing around on their very pretty but annoying site.

Its under the book my launch button then rideshare then cubesat

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/book-my-launch/

[tautech]

Some update.....

A couple of weeks back NZ finally got into space. 

Rocket Lab has successfully reached orbit with the test flight of its second Electron orbital launch vehicle, Still Testing. Electron lifted-off at 14:43 NZDT from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.

Following successful first and second stage burns, Electron reached orbit and deployed customer payloads at 8 minutes and 31 seconds after lift-off.

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-successfully-reaches-orbit-and-deploys-payloads-january-21-2018/

[MT]

 

[Paul Moir]

Yes, and for the next 9 months you might get a chance to see the disco ball they snuck up along with a successful 3rd stage test. 
https://www.thehumanitystar.com/

This rocket's engines use batteries and electric motors to power the propellant pumps, which I think us unique.  The advantage is that it greatly simplifies the pump at the cost of the weight of the batteries.  This is offset though by the mass of the fuel that would have to go into the gas generator in a conventional propellant turbopump. 

[llkiwi2006]

They also had a third stage using a "green" monopropellant, instead of the horribly toxic hydrazine. AFAIK this is the first of its kind to be used on a rocket, although there has been test satellites before using "green" propellants. The advantage is that it's really simple to use by being a monopropellant like hydrazine, but its much safer to handle than hydrazine (workers need full body protective gear to handle hydrazine).

On an related note, Falcon heavy is scheduled to launch in a few days. If the launch is successful, it would be the largest rocket currently in operation.