Rocket Lab Launched US Spy Satellites From Virginia

Space.com

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched the NROL-123 mission from the company's Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia  Credit: Rocket Lab

Transcript

00:0010, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, liftoff.

00:29Beginning pitch normal. Stage 1 propulsion nominal.

00:46Our 46th Electron is in the air and on its way to orbit after liftoff from Launch Complex 2.

00:52Electron's Rutherford engines are burning hot as the launch vehicle accelerates towards Max Q

00:58at that moment when the density of the air around the rocket and its acceleration through that air

01:03creates the maximum aerodynamic pressure that the launch vehicle will experience.

01:08The call from Mission Control that we've passed through that point will be coming up shortly.

01:14Vehicle is supersonic.

01:20Approaching Max Q.

01:29Max Q.

01:36With Electron clear through Max Q all is looking nominal at now 1 minute and 26 minutes into flight.

01:42So the rocket is now over 20 kilometers in altitude and moving at over 2,800 kilometers an hour.

01:50Up next will be three launch milestones that happen at roughly the same time.

01:55To separate the first stage of the rocket from its second we need to throttle down

01:59and shut off the booster's nine Rutherford engines.

02:02This is called MECO or main engine cutoff.

02:06Next is stage separation when those two sections will disconnect

02:10and then it will be second stage engine ignition for the 10th Rutherford engine on Electron.

02:16Those three events are coming up shortly so let's bring up the audio channels from Mission Control to listen in.

02:2615 seconds to staging.

02:29Entered burnout detect mode.

02:42MECO confirmed.

02:47Stage separation successful.

02:50Stage. Stage separation.

03:01That is MECO, stage separation and Rutherford engine start on the second stage all confirmed across the nets.

03:08Live and let fly is living up to its name as the mission continues nominally on its way to its target orbit.

03:15Up next will be fairing jettison when Electron's nose cone splits and falls away

03:20to expose the NRO's payload in preparation for deployment.

03:39Nominal.

03:45High voltage battery discharge is nominal.

03:54Fairing separation successful.

04:01And that is fairing jettison confirmed as all continues nominally for Electron.

04:15We are now T plus 4 minutes and 19 seconds since Electron's launch off the pad at Launch Complex 2 in Virginia.

04:40Now as we wait for our next set of mission milestones we can see that Electron is progressing smoothly through flight.

04:47The Rutherford engine on the second stage will continue to burn through that propellant and empty those tanks

04:53as we approach engine cut off for the second stage in just a few minutes.

04:57Now that second stage engine is mostly identical to the engines on stage one.

05:02It contains all of the same 3D printed parts and machinery as a stage one engine

05:07but has a larger extension nozzle that is ideal for the vacuum conditions of space

05:12and the engine has the ability to hot swap its batteries.

05:16Because the batteries for this engine have been working harder and for longer

05:20they need to be swapped out for the mission to continue.

05:23And that is an action unique to Electron which will be coming up in just a few minutes.

05:37Coming up now on battery hot swap for the second stage engine.

05:53So those batteries are close to terminal now as the mission is continuing.

05:57So Electron's engine power system will swap over to a new set to keep it running.

06:03This hot swap manoeuvre will allow continuous energy supply to the Rutherford engine's turbo pumps

06:09which delivers fuel into the engine's combustion chamber at extremely high pressure.

06:14The old set of batteries will be jettisoned which we might see on our screen when that happens.

06:19So let's watch and listen out for the call from Mission Control.

06:41Battery jettison confirmed. Hot swap successful.

06:50There they went. You saw it there. A clean battery hot swap for the second stage Rutherford engine.

06:55Propulsion looks nominal. Our orbital trajectory is on track

06:59and we are now just a few minutes away from the second stage's final milestones.

07:13Stage two propulsion is still holding nominal.

07:36T plus 7 minutes 21 seconds and counting and the second stage is performing well on this leg of the journey.

07:43The burn of this engine should take the kick stage with its NRO payload

07:47all the way to the highest point of this mission's trajectory

07:50and reach speeds of up to 28,000 kilometres an hour ahead of payload deployment.

07:57We are now though under two minutes to the cut off of this engine

08:01and we should start hearing more status calls from our Mission Control operators shortly.

08:12High voltage battery discharge holding nominal.

08:23Soon we'll be repeating the process of the stage separation that we completed earlier in the mission

08:29for the stage two you see on your screen from its kick stage with the NRO payload.

08:34Now this includes second engine cut off or SECO of that stage two engine

08:39followed by separation between stages two and three.

08:42Now once that third stage, the kick stage, separates

08:45it will go into a phasing orbit of Earth ahead of payload deployment.

08:49We'll listen in for those events now.

09:19SECO confirm.

09:44Good, transfer orbit.

09:49Great news from Mission Control.

09:51With that second stage engine cold and the kick stage separated,

09:55LIV and Letfly's payload is now further on its journey to orbit.

10:00The kick stage has been released at the apogee of this mission's target orbit,

10:04otherwise known as its highest point, but not yet on a circular path.

10:09It will now complete an elliptical orbit around Earth

10:12before the dots reconnect at the apogee.

10:15Now when it does, the kick stage's engine will light up for the first of its multiple burns

10:20to set the mission on a circular orbit.

10:23Next after that will be payload deployment and the release of the payload.

10:27Now at the request of the NRO, we won't be live with those kick stage actions

10:31or payload deployment calls, but we will bring you updates across our social media channels.

10:36Payload deployment will mark the end of the mission for Rocket Lab,

10:40but the beginning of those three research missions on orbit for the NRO.

10:44So good luck and LIV and Letfly to the NRO.

10:48We'll be ending the broadcast now, but remember to follow Rocket Lab's Facebook,

10:52Twitter and Instagram pages for updates on this mission

10:55and our next Electron launch scheduled soon.

10:58This is Rocket Lab Mission Control signing off.

11:10NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

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