PARIS – Rocket Lab successfully launched a Japanese radar imaging satellite on Sept. 15 as the company prepares for another attempt to recover and reuse a booster.
An Electron rocket lifted off from Pad B at Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 4:38 p.m. ET. The rocket’s launch stage deployed its payload, Japanese company Synspective’s StriX-1 satellite, into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 563 kilometers about an hour later.
The satellite is the third Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging satellite launched by Synspective, all using Electron rockets. StriX-1 is the first “pre-commercial” satellite after two demonstration satellites as the company prepares to build a constellation of up to 30 SAR satellites by 2026. StriX-1 features improvements to its batteries and communications system to allow it to collect more images.
The launch was the seventh Electron mission of the year and the 30th overall for the company. StriX-1 was the 150th satellite placed in orbit on these Electron missions.
Rocket Lab did not attempt to recover the Electron first stage. The last attempt to do so was at a launch in May, when a helicopter briefly held the stage while descending under a parachute, but had to let it go due to unforeseen loads on the helicopter. The booster was recovered from the ocean after splashing. During the StriX-1 launch webcast, the company said it would make another airborne recovery attempt later this year.
Rocket Lab has continued to work on preparing reusable boosters. The company announced on September 1 that it tested a Rutherford engine from the booster recovered from the May launch, showing that it worked with only a “minimal” overhaul after its first flight.
“If we can achieve this high level of performance from engine components recovered from the ocean, then I’m optimistic and incredibly excited about what we can do the next time we return dry engines under a helicopter,” Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s chief executive, he said in a statement.
Others in the small launch vehicle industry remain more skeptical about the benefits of reusing these rockets. “In my mind, reuse always comes across as something extremely elegant and attractive, and there’s also obviously the appeal of something more environmentally friendly,” said Giulio Ranzo, Avio’s chief executive. , manufacturer of the Vega, during a panel at World. Satellite Business Week September 13.
He argued that reuse made sense primarily for larger launch vehicles with a high flight rate. “The smaller the launcher and the lower the flight speed, the more useless it becomes,” he said. “I don’t see, technically, how in a 200-kilogram performance launcher, reuse would be very convenient, especially if the flight speed tends to be something like four or five launches per year.”
“Reusability is something that will be valued,” said Jason Mello, president of Firefly Space Transport Services, a subsidiary of Firefly Aerospace. That includes both the company’s Alpha vehicle, about to make its second flight, and the future medium launch vehicle it will develop with Northrop Grumman.
“We have to look at the business case and see what makes sense and what the customer demand is that we need,” he said.
Dan Hart, chief executive of Virgin Orbit, said the company has looked into reusing its LauncherOne rocket. “There are puts and grabs,” he said. “There are limitations and logistical complexities associated with reuse. However, if you recover the hardware and use it, there is definitely a benefit.”
He said the company has been looking for manufacturing improvements to reduce launch costs rather than relying on component reuse. “The trade-off is not very clear about whether reuse makes a lot of sense.”
However, one part of the overall LauncherOne system is reusable: the Boeing 747 aircraft used as the rocket’s aerial launch pad. “It’s flown over 8,500 times,” Hart said of the company’s plane. “So from a reusability standpoint, I think it’s at the top.”