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Wednesday, January 24, 2018 6:12:39 AM
kick stage opens up significantly more orbital options
At rocketlabusa.com - Rocket Lab successfully circularizes orbit with new Electron kick stage - January 23 2018
Rocket Lab CEO and founder Peter Beck says the kick stage opens up significantly more orbital options, particularly for rideshare customers that have traditionally been limited to the primary payload’s designated orbit.
A section of the text:
“Until now many small satellite operators have had to compromise on optimal orbits in order to reach space at an accessible cost. The kick stage releases small satellites from the constricting parameters of primary payload orbits and enables them to full reach their potential, including faster deployment of small satellite constellations and better positioning for Earth imaging,” Beck says.
The kick stage is designed for use on the Electron launch vehicle with a payload capacity of up to 150 kg and will be used to disperse CubeSat constellations faster and more accurately, enabling satellite data to be received and utilized sooner after launch.
Equipped with a precision pointing cold gas reaction control system, the kick stage also has its own avionics, power and communications systems.
At popularmechanics.com - Rocket Lab Reveals Secret Engine and "Kick Stage" for the Electron Rocket - The recent Electron launch was even more impressive than it appeared. - Jan 23, 2018
It turns out the launch was even more involved than you would've guessed watching the livestream. Today, Rocket Lab announced that the second flight of Electron (a mission they called "Still Testing") carried a new "kick stage" that was used to maneuver two of the satellites in space and send them into a circular orbit. The kick stage consists of a small restartable rocket engine called Curie. Here's how it worked.
Electron launched from the pad on the Mahia Peninsula as the nine oxygen-kerosene Rutherford engines on the rocket's first stage—the first electric pump-fed rocket engines in the world, 3D printed by Rocket Lab—propelled the rocket upward. About two and a half minutes after launch, the second stage separated from the first and continued to climb using one, vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine. Eight minutes and 31 seconds after liftoff, an Earth-imaging Dove satellite built by the company Planet was released into an elliptical orbit.
However, when the other two satellites deployed from the second stage, they were attached to the kick stage. You could not see the kick stage in the livestream, but it continued to coast for about 40 minutes before the Curie engine—a small 120-Newton thrust engine, also 3D printed by Rocket Lab—ignited. It then placed the two small sats, weather and ship-tracking Lemur-2 CubeSats built by the company Spire Global, into a circular orbit.
“Until now many small satellite operators have had to compromise on optimal orbits in order to reach space at an accessible cost," said Rocket Lab CEO and founder Peter Beck in a press release. "The kick stage releases small satellites from the constricting parameters of primary payload orbits and enables them to full reach their potential, including faster deployment of small satellite constellations and better positioning for Earth imaging."
Rocket Lab, founded more than a decade ago, has big dreams. The Kiwi spaceflight company hopes someday to launch about 50 Electron rockets a year, or about one per week. Though Electron is relatively small at only 17 meters (56 feet), the launch vehicle's main body is made of carbon composite materials, making it light and efficient enough to reach orbit.
__________________________________________________________________
Rocket Lab is planning its next launch in early 2018, and the company is currently building five more Electron launch vehicles. With additional launch agreements already signed by the likes of NASA, Moon Express, Planet, Spire Global, and Spaceflight Industries, the future of Rocket Lab looks bright—and the secret kick stage the company built just makes Electron that much more attractive to customers looking to place something in space.
Rocket Lab kick stage, with the four silver spheres of the new Curie engine seen in the middle. ROCKET LAB
At rocketlabusa.com - Rocket Lab successfully circularizes orbit with new Electron kick stage - January 23 2018
Rocket Lab CEO and founder Peter Beck says the kick stage opens up significantly more orbital options, particularly for rideshare customers that have traditionally been limited to the primary payload’s designated orbit.
A section of the text:
“Until now many small satellite operators have had to compromise on optimal orbits in order to reach space at an accessible cost. The kick stage releases small satellites from the constricting parameters of primary payload orbits and enables them to full reach their potential, including faster deployment of small satellite constellations and better positioning for Earth imaging,” Beck says.
The kick stage is designed for use on the Electron launch vehicle with a payload capacity of up to 150 kg and will be used to disperse CubeSat constellations faster and more accurately, enabling satellite data to be received and utilized sooner after launch.
Equipped with a precision pointing cold gas reaction control system, the kick stage also has its own avionics, power and communications systems.
At popularmechanics.com - Rocket Lab Reveals Secret Engine and "Kick Stage" for the Electron Rocket - The recent Electron launch was even more impressive than it appeared. - Jan 23, 2018
It turns out the launch was even more involved than you would've guessed watching the livestream. Today, Rocket Lab announced that the second flight of Electron (a mission they called "Still Testing") carried a new "kick stage" that was used to maneuver two of the satellites in space and send them into a circular orbit. The kick stage consists of a small restartable rocket engine called Curie. Here's how it worked.
Electron launched from the pad on the Mahia Peninsula as the nine oxygen-kerosene Rutherford engines on the rocket's first stage—the first electric pump-fed rocket engines in the world, 3D printed by Rocket Lab—propelled the rocket upward. About two and a half minutes after launch, the second stage separated from the first and continued to climb using one, vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine. Eight minutes and 31 seconds after liftoff, an Earth-imaging Dove satellite built by the company Planet was released into an elliptical orbit.
However, when the other two satellites deployed from the second stage, they were attached to the kick stage. You could not see the kick stage in the livestream, but it continued to coast for about 40 minutes before the Curie engine—a small 120-Newton thrust engine, also 3D printed by Rocket Lab—ignited. It then placed the two small sats, weather and ship-tracking Lemur-2 CubeSats built by the company Spire Global, into a circular orbit.
“Until now many small satellite operators have had to compromise on optimal orbits in order to reach space at an accessible cost," said Rocket Lab CEO and founder Peter Beck in a press release. "The kick stage releases small satellites from the constricting parameters of primary payload orbits and enables them to full reach their potential, including faster deployment of small satellite constellations and better positioning for Earth imaging."
Rocket Lab, founded more than a decade ago, has big dreams. The Kiwi spaceflight company hopes someday to launch about 50 Electron rockets a year, or about one per week. Though Electron is relatively small at only 17 meters (56 feet), the launch vehicle's main body is made of carbon composite materials, making it light and efficient enough to reach orbit.
__________________________________________________________________
Rocket Lab is planning its next launch in early 2018, and the company is currently building five more Electron launch vehicles. With additional launch agreements already signed by the likes of NASA, Moon Express, Planet, Spire Global, and Spaceflight Industries, the future of Rocket Lab looks bright—and the secret kick stage the company built just makes Electron that much more attractive to customers looking to place something in space.
Rocket Lab kick stage, with the four silver spheres of the new Curie engine seen in the middle. ROCKET LAB
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