The American company Rocket Lab has revealed that it will try Recover the first stage of its electron rocket In its next mission, the ‘Return to Sender’ launch is scheduled to take off in mid-November. The rocket lab will test the first phase of the electron under a parachute system for a controlled water landing before collecting a recovery ship.
The Rocket Lab’s 16th Electron Launch ‘Return to Sender’ will be launched from Launch Complex 1 on the Mohia Peninsula in New Zealand. The mission will deploy 30 payloads of electrons over a short range Satellite In a recovery effort, the launch’s secondary objective reaches a 500 km solar-synchronous orbit.
Last summer the Rocket Lab stated that, like Space X, it had planned to re-launch the rockets, which would significantly reduce the cost of the rocket launch. Unlike the SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, the Rocket Lab, one of SpaceX’s drone ships that lands and lands vertically, is designed to allow the rocket steps of an electron rocket to land on a parachute.
It should be noted that there is a large difference in size between the 17 m high Rocket Labs Electron rocket and the 70 m high Space X Falcon 9 rocket. The electron is designed to give small satellites a special ride in orbit. The rocket will be able to lift 300 kilograms of payload into low orbit in about $ 7 million in lift-offs.
The image above is of Rocket Labs intending to build an electron rocket stage somewhere in the ocean after Rocket Labs in New Zealand launched from a rocket base.
“The first stage of recovering a small launch vehicle is the uncharted area. What we are trying to achieve with electrons is an incredibly difficult and complex challenge, but we are ready to further increase launch cadence and provide more regular launch opportunities for smaller satellite operators., ” Says Peter Beck, Founder and CEO of Rocket Lab. “The ultimate goal is to bring back the entire first phase, but the success of this mission is really about getting more data, especially the drag and parachute deployment system. Regardless of the situation, the stage is coming back; We will learn a lot from this test and use it to move on to the next attempt. ”
If the rocket recovery program is successful, the electron will become the first, reusable orbit-class small launch system in operation.
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