Electron (original) (raw)


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Electron

American privately-funded small expendable orbital launch vehicle using liquid oxygen/kerosene propellants.

First Launch: 2018-01-21. Last Launch: 2018-12-16. Number: 3 .

Electron was a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle (with an optional third stage) developed by the American aerospace company Rocket Lab to cover the commercial small satellite launch segment (CubeSats). Its Rutherford liquid oxygen/kerosene engines, manufactured in California, are the first electric-pump-fed engine to power an orbital rocket. In December 2016, Electron completed flight qualification. The first rocket was launched on 25 May 2017, reaching space but not achieving orbit due to a glitch in communication equipment on the ground. During its second flight on 21 January 2018, Electron reached orbit and deployed three CubeSats.

Electron used two stages of 1.2 m diameter, constructed of carbon composite material. There are nine Rutherford engines on the first stage and one vacuum-optimized version on the second stage. Nearly all of the engines' parts are 3D printed. An optional third stage was designed to circularize the orbits of satellite payloads. This stage employs uses a Curie rocket engine, capable of multiple burns, also 3D printed. It was first used during Electron's second flight.

Electron was designed to launch a 150 to 225 kg (330 to 495 lb) payload to a 500 km (310 mi) Sun-synchronous orbit, suitable for CubeSats and other small payloads. In October 2018 Rocket Lab opened a factory to produce more than 50 rockets per year. Customers may choose to encapsulate their spacecraft in payload fairings provided by the company, which can be attached to the rocket shortly before launch. Launch price was about $6 million.

The rocket was initially launched from the company's site at Mahia, New Zealand. In October 2018, Rocket Lab selected a pad at the Wallops Flight Facility as its future secondary launch site in the United States. Additionally he UK Space Agency was seeking to develop an Electron launch pad on the A'Mhoine Peninsula in Sutherland, Scotland.

Country: USA.

2017 May 25 - . 04:19 GMT - . Launch Site: Mahia. Launch Complex: Mahia LC1. Launch Vehicle: Electron.

2018 January 21 - . 01:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Mahia. Launch Complex: Mahia LC1. Launch Vehicle: Electron.

2018 November 11 - . 03:49 GMT - . Launch Site: Mahia. Launch Complex: Mahia LC1. Launch Vehicle: Electron.

2018 December 16 - . 06:32 GMT - . Launch Site: Mahia. Launch Complex: Mahia LC1. Launch Vehicle: Electron.

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