00:33 Our 46th Electron is in the air and on its way to orbit after liftoff from Launch Complex 2.
00:52 Electron's Rutherford engines are burning hot as the launch vehicle accelerates towards Max Q, that moment when the density of the air around the rocket and its acceleration through that air creates the maximum aerodynamic pressure that the launch vehicle will experience.
01:07 The call for mission control that we've passed through that point will be coming up shortly.
01:12 Vehicle is supersonic.
01:20 Approaching Max Q.
01:22 Max Q.
01:37 With Electron clear through Max Q, all is looking nominal at now 1 minute and 26 minutes into flight. So the rocket is now over 20 kilometres in altitude and moving at over 2,800 kilometres an hour.
01:52 Up next will be three launch milestones that happen at roughly the same time.
01:57 To separate the first stage of the rocket from its second, we need to throttle down and shut off the booster's nine Rutherford engines. This is called MECO or Main Engine Cut-Off.
02:08 Next is stage separation when those two sections will disconnect and then it will be second stage engine ignition for the 10th Rutherford engine on Electron.
02:18 Those three events are coming up shortly so let's bring up the audio channels from mission control to listen in.
02:26 15 seconds to staging.
02:28 Entered burnout detect mode.
02:31 MECO confirmed.
02:44 Stage separation successful.
02:50 Stage separation.
02:52 That is MECO, stage separation and Rutherford engines start on the second stage all confirmed across the nets.
03:08 Live and Let Fly is living up to its name as the mission continues nominally on its way to its target orbit.
03:15 Up next will be fairing jettison when Electron's nose cone splits and falls away to expose the NRO's payload in preparation for deployment.
03:24 Nominal.
03:40 High voltage battery discharge is nominal.
03:52 Fairing separation successful.
03:56 And that is fairing jettison confirmed as all continues nominally for Electron.
04:07 We are now T+4 minutes and 19 seconds since Electron's nose cone split.
04:14 We are now T+4 minutes and 19 seconds since Electron's launch off the pad at Launch Complex 2 in Virginia.
04:40 As we wait for our next set of mission milestones we can see that Electron is progressing smoothly through flight.
04:47 The Rutherford engine on the second stage will continue to burn through that propellant and empty those tanks as we approach engine cut off for the second stage in just a few minutes.
04:57 That second stage engine is mostly identical to the engines on stage one.
05:02 It contains all of the same 3D printed parts and machinery as a stage one engine but has a larger extension nozzle that is ideal for the vacuum conditions of space and the engine has the ability to hot swap its batteries.
05:16 Because the batteries for this engine have been working harder and for longer they need to be swapped out for the mission to continue.
05:23 And that is an action unique to Electron which will be coming up in just a few minutes.
05:28 Coming up now on battery hot swap for the second stage engine.
05:53 So those batteries are close to terminal now as the mission is continuing so Electron's engine power system will swap over to a new set to keep it running.
06:03 This hot swap manoeuvre will allow continuous energy supply to the Rutherford engine's turbo pumps which delivers fuel into the engine's combustion chamber at extremely high pressure.
06:14 The old set of batteries will be jettisoned which we might see on our screen when that happens so let's watch and listen out for the call from mission control.
06:41 Battery jettison confirmed. Hot swap success.
06:50 There they went. You saw it there. A clean battery hot swap for the second stage Rutherford engine.
06:55 Propulsion looks nominal. Our orbital trajectory is on track and we are now just a few minutes away from the second stage's final milestones.
07:13 Stage two propulsion is still holding nominal.
07:36 T plus seven minutes 21 seconds and counting and the second stage is performing well on this leg of the journey.
07:43 The burn of this engine should take the kick stage with its NRO payload all the way to the highest point of this mission's trajectory and reach speeds of up to 28,000 kilometres an hour ahead of payload deployment.
07:57 We are now though under two minutes to the cut off of this engine and we should start hearing more status calls from our mission control operators shortly.
08:12 High voltage battery discharge holding nominal.
08:23 Soon we'll be repeating the process of the stage separation that we completed earlier in the mission for the stage two you see on your screen from its kick stage with the NRO payload.
08:34 Now this includes second engine cut off or SECO of that stage two engine followed by separation between stages two and three.
08:42 Now once that third stage, the kick stage, separates it will go into a phasing orbit of Earth ahead of payload deployment. We'll listen in for those events now.
08:58 This is the symptom.
09:26 SECO confirm.
09:44 Good, transfer orbit.
09:49 Great news from mission control with that second stage engine cold and the kick stage separated live and let flies payload is now further on its journey to orbit.
10:00 The kick stage has been released at the apogee of this mission's target orbit, otherwise known as its highest point, but not yet on a circular path.
10:09 It will now complete an elliptical orbit around Earth before the dots reconnect at the apogee.
10:15 Now when it does, the kick stages engine will light up for the first of its multiple burns to set the mission on a circular orbit.
10:22 Next after that will be payload deployment and the release of the payload.
10:27 Now at the request of the NRO, we won't be live with those kick stage actions or payload deployment calls, but we will bring you updates across our social media channels.
10:36 Payload deployment will mark the end of the mission for rocket lab, but the beginning of those three research missions on orbit for the NRO.
10:44 So good luck and live and let fly to the NRO.
10:48 We'll be ending the broadcast now, but remember to follow rocket labs, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for updates on this mission and our next electron launch scheduled soon.
10:58 This is rocket lab mission control signing off.
