Electron - ракета компании Rocket Lab

[tnt22]

Rocket Lab‏Подлинная учетная запись @RocketLab 14 мин. назад

Meet Maxwell, our in-house designed and built cubesat dispenser. Available in 1U, 3U and 6U form factors (or larger on request). These are some of the lightest dispensers on the market. Visit us at Satellite 2018 tomorrow to see them. #Maxwell #SATShow

[axxenm]

axxenm пишет:
Означает ли нагнетание топлива при помощи ЭД возможность глубокого дросселирования тяги?

октоген пишет:
Да, но снизу тяга будет ограничена нормальным охлаждением КС. Так что дросселировать как водородники все равно не получится.

И каков нижний порог? процентов 40 будет ?

[tnt22]

Rocket Lab‏Подлинная учетная запись @RocketLab 6 ч. назад

It's Business Time. Next launch coming soon. http://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/its-business-time-at-rocket-lab/ ...

[tnt22]

Spire‏ @SpireGlobal 6 ч. назад

Excited to be hitching another ride with @RocketLab for It's Business Time!

Rocket Lab‏Подлинная учетная запись @RocketLab 7 ч. назад

It's Business Time. Next launch coming soon. http://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/its-business-time-at-rocket-lab/ ...

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 3 ч. назад

FEATURE ARTICLE: Rocket Lab manifests third flight, aims for expanded flight rate and launch sites -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/03/rocket-lab-manifests-expanded-flight-rate-launch-sites/ ...

Part 2 of Chris Gebhardt's (@ChrisG_NSF) interview with @RocketLab CEO Peter Beck.

Спойлер

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

Rocket Lab‏Подлинная учетная запись @RocketLab 45 мин. назад

Just a couple of rocket guys hanging out at #MARS2018

[Василий Ратников]

tnt22,  какой двигатель мелкий ))
и какой простой.

[Старый]

Василий Ратников пишет:
tnt22 , какой двигатель мелкий ))
и какой простой.

Это ракетомоделизм.

[Alex_II]

Старый пишет:
Это ракетомоделизм.

Ну так-то да... Но зацени, какие стали модели - аж до орбиты с парой сотен кг на борту дотягивают... Это серьёзный ракетомоделизм...

[Старый]

Alex_II пишет: 
 Но зацени, какие стали модели - аж до орбиты с парой сотен кг на борту дотягивают... Это серьёзный ракетомоделизм...

Дык времена то меняются!

[Alex_II]

Старый пишет:
Дык времена то меняются!

Ага... Какой советский пионер 40 лет назад мечтал запустить модель ракеты с моделью спутников (кубсаты ) на орбиту? Однако ж вот... Будущее таки наступило...

[Старый]

Alex_II пишет:

Старый пишет:
Дык времена то меняются!

Ага... Какой советский пионер 40 лет назад мечтал запустить модель ракеты с моделью спутников (кубсаты    ) на орбиту? Однако ж вот... Будущее таки наступило...

И я про то. Пионеры подрастают.  Не всю же жизнь запускать моторчики на карамели на сотню метров.

[Старый]

Учась в училище (рубеж 70/80 гг) я подумывал о том что в то время любителям уже было доступно запустить ракету на орбиту. Правда я думал о двигателях с вытеснительной подачей.

[zandr]

http://tass.ru/kosmos/5097583

Компания Rocket Lab запланировала первый коммерческий запуск спутников на конец апреля
ВАШИНГТОН, 5 апреля. /ТАСС/. Частная американская компания Rocket Lab в конце апреля планирует осуществить первый полностью коммерческий запуск своей 17-метровой ракеты-носителя Electron с несколькими спутниками на борту. Об этом говорится в сообщении, опубликованном во вторник на сайте компании.
Несмотря на то, что Rocket Lab базируется в США, свои ракеты в космос она планирует отправлять с принадлежащей ей стартовой площадки в Новой Зеландии. 14-дневное окно для запуска откроется с 20 апреля. Ежедневно в течение этого периода у компании будет четыре часа, чтобы запустить ракету по нужной траектории для последующего вывода спутников на орбиту. "Имеющий лицензию на проведение запусков каждые 72 часа пусковой комплекс Rocket Lab - единственная частная стартовая площадка для орбитальных запусков", - отмечается в сообщении компании. Первая ступень Electron оснащена сразу девятью двигателями, работающими на жидком кислороде и керосине. Вторая ступень имеет лишь один двигатель. Максимальная нагрузка не превышает 227 кг.
Впервые ракета была запущена в мае 2017 года. Пуск прошел неудачно - она так и не смогла доставить груз на орбиту. Однако 20 января носитель смог вывести в космос сферу около метра в диаметре, покрытую 65 треугольными отражателями. После этого руководство компании заявило, что готово принимать заказы у частных операторов спутников.
В этот раз клиентами выступили сразу две компании. Spire Global хочет запустить два очередных микроспутника формата "кубсат" Lemur-2. С их помощью ведется сбор данных о погоде, а также отслеживаются передвижения кораблей. Кроме того, GeoOptics, еще одна фирма, работающая в сфере метеорологии, хочет расширить свою группировку аппаратов на орбите за счет спутника, построенного инженерами Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.
К концу года Rocket Lab планирует запускать по одной ракете в месяц. Сами носители собираются в Калифорнии. По словам исполнительного директора компании Питера Бека, ее цель - закрепиться на рынке малых спутников.

Спойлер

Согласно опубликованным в феврале данным базирующейся в Атланте аэрокосмической компании SpaceWorks, число таких аппаратов, запущенных в 2017 году, превысило даже наиболее оптимистичные прогнозы, но теперь для развития данного направления нужны новые компании. 2017 год в этом плане стал рекордным - в космос с Земли отправились более 300 спутников весом от одного до 50 кг.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/06/rocket-lab-preps-for-first-commercial-satellite-launch/

Rocket Lab preps for first commercial satellite launch
April 6, 2018 | Stephen Clark


File photo of a test-firing of Rocket Lab's Rutherford engine. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab's first full-up commercial launch is set for April 19, U.S. time, from the company's privately-operated launch base in New Zealand with three U.S.-owned satellites to collect weather data.

The next Electron launch will loft two satellites owned by Spire Global and one for GeoOptics. Both companies are based in California, and are competitors in the market to gather weather and climate information with commercial spacecraft.

Спойлер

The upcoming third flight of the company's commercially-developed Electron rocket will come after two test flights in May 2017 and in January. The maiden Electron launch fell short of orbit due to a ground tracking error that led safety officials to prematurely abort the flight, but the second mission in January successfully reached orbit.

As a bonus on the January test flight, the Electron deployed four satellites in orbit — two commercial CubeSats for Spire's weather data and ship tracking fleet, a CubeSat for Planet's Earth-imaging constellation and a Rocket Lab-owned reflective geodesic sphere named Humanity Star.

Rocket Lab nicknamed the first two Electron flights "It's a Test" and "Still Testing." Signifying Rocket Lab's orientation toward commercial operations, the next mission has been christened "It's Business Time."

The 14-day launch period opens at April 19 at 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT; 12:30 p.m. New Zealand time on April 20). There is a four-hour launch window available each day.

The Electron rocket will take off from Rocket Lab's space base on Mahia Peninsula, located on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.

"'It's Business Time' represents the shift to responsive space," said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab's founder and CEO. "We always set out to create a vehicle and launch site that could offer the world's most frequent launch capability and we're achieving that in record time."

"Rocket Lab is the only small launch provider that has reached orbit and delivered on promises to open access to space for small satellites," he said in a statement. "We can have payloads on orbit every 72 hours and our rapidly expanding manifest shows this is frequency is critical for the small satellite market."

The two-stage Electron rocket stands around 55 feet (17 meters) tall with a diameter around 3.9 feet (1.2 meters). It's all black carbon composite structure contains kerosene and liquid oxygen tanks that power 10 Rutherford engines — nine on the first stage and one on the second stage — developed in-house by Rocket Lab.

For comparison, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket stands nearly 230 feet (70 meters) tall. The space shuttle's orange external fuel tank measured nearly 28 feet (8.4 meters) in diameter.

But Rocket Lab says the Electron is perfectly sized to haul small satellites into orbit on dedicated, relatively low-cost missions. Officials say that will answer needs of commercial satellite operators, universities and governments trying to deploy payloads on shoestring budgets.

The Electron booster can carry up to 330 pounds (150 kilograms) to a polar orbit around 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth. The rocket's capacity to a lower-altitude orbit is up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms), according to Rocket Lab.

The rocket company, founded in New Zealand and headquartered in Southern California, says it can launch an Electron rocket for less than $5 million per flight.

Spire's two Lemur 2 CubeSats, each weighing around 10 pounds (less than 5 kilograms), launching on the next Electron rocket will track ships and collect environmental data. The GeoOptics CICERO satellite on the third Electron launch is built on an expanded CubeSat design.

The Spire and GeoOptics payloads will measure GPS satellite navigation signals passed through Earth's atmosphere to derive information about weather and climate.

A Rocket Lab spokesperson said a Curie kick stage will fly with the Spire and GeoOptics payloads. The extra propulsion module, which made its successful debut during the January test flight, will place the CubeSats at their intended altitude a few hundred miles above Earth, after the Electron rocket puts them in an initial parking orbit.


The mission patch for Rocket Lab's third Electron launch. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab's fourth Electron launch is expected to carry at least 10 CubeSats to orbit for NASA and U.S. research institutions. That flight could take off from New Zealand in the next couple of months.

In a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" event earlier this week, Beck said he expects Rocket Lab to begin generating positive cash flow by the Electron rocket's fifth flight, now that the launcher has finished its development phase.

Beck wrote that Rocket Lab aims to launch once per month by the end of this year, then once every two weeks in 2019. Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 facility on Mahia Peninsula can eventually host launches as often as once every 72 hours, he said.

The company's focus now is on accelerating the Electron rocket's flight rate.

"Our goal from the outset was always to produce one vehicle very well that could be produced on a mass scale," Beck wrote. "It's the only way to achieve the launch frequency the market needs. We're pumping out around one Electron a month at the moment. There will always be continual innovation in all areas of Rocket Lab."

There are no plans to make the Electron reusable or develop a bigger launcher.

"Reusability doesn't scale well for small rockets," Beck wrote. "No plans for an Electron Heavy. With Electron's lift capability, we could have launched the vast majority of spacecraft launched last year. If we doubled the potential payload mass, we could have only launched an additional 2 percent of the market. Doesn't stack up."

Rocket Lab plans to webcast the upcoming mission live online, but Beck said the company — which is based in the United States and falls under U.S. government regulations — is evaluating NOAA's new requirement for commercial rocket companies to obtain a license to broadcast live views from cameras on the launcher.

SpaceX said NOAA restrictions kept it from providing live on-board video during a commercial Falcon 9 launch March 30. NOAA has regulatory authority over commercial Earth-imaging from space, and is tasked with ensuring satellite-based cameras do not record sensitive activities like military deployments.

But live "rocketcam" views provided by launch companies like SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Rocket Lab are low-resolution, and generally have engines or other rocket components in the foreground.

NOAA did not require licenses before numerous previous launches that beamed live video from space, but the agency recently ruled that rocket-mounted cameras constitute "remote sensing systems," and should be subject to the law, which explicitly exempts hand-held cameras like those used by astronauts.

Government missions are not subject to the NOAA rule.

[свернуть]

[Василий Ратников]

вопросы


Couple of questions:
 

• Reusability: Is there any future scope for fairing recovery, engine separation and recovery or even landing the Electon's first stage?
• Scaling: Will Rocket Labs remain a small sat launcher or are there aspirations to scale up or enter other fields? (I hope you've reserved "Muon" for a potential Electron Heavy!)
• Market Size: There are a number of small rocket companies entering the industry, is there enough business to sustain them all or will there be a culling in the near future?
• Launch Sites: Lots of countries are interested in launching rockets (e.g. UK, Australia), is Rocket Labs potentially interested and is ITAR the main restriction?
  

Ответы
Reusability doesn't scale well for small rockets. No plans for an Electron Heavy. With Electron's lift capability we could have launched the vast majority of spacecraft launched last year. If we doubled the potential payload mass we could have only launched an addition 2% of the market. Doesn't stack up. As for the market size, lots are trying. Not all will make it. We're currently the only dedicated small launcher that has made it to orbit. Regarding launch sites, it has always been my plan to have launch pads around the world to service many different inclinations. Launch Complex 1 is just the start (a good one though).

Жаль что не будет Мюона. ((( пичаль пичаль.
Много стартовых столов ))) (строителям из России привет)
Многоразовости в этом размере не будет.

[Василий Ратников]

Вопрос
The composite propellant tanks: What of the development of the carbon composite LOX tank was straightforward and what if any technical problems had to be overcome? Was it straightforward or was there anything unexpected?
To what extent is the patriotic all-black composite exterior a problem for thermal management? Are there particulars about the material or launch site that make white paint unnecessary, and is the coating of white ice that builds up a part of the thermal management strategy or is it just incidental?
Finally - what if any testing have you done using oxygen chilled closer to its freezing point and what are the results of that testing?

Ответы
Nothing about developing a rocket is straightforward. We spend several years developing and testing the composite tanks. The two main issues are microcracking and oxygen compatibility. We ended up with linerness tanks with common bulkheads that have similar oxygen compatibility to aluminium but much lighter mass.
 As for Electron's colouring, black rockets look awesome. Most of the team wanted to paint it but for me it had to be black. I only want to make beautiful things. Our thermal team put in a lot of work to make it happen. Does save mass on paint though.

Сделать композитные баки было не так и легко.
Черная ракета это красиво, так что Электрон черный. Чисто по красоте.
(ну и экономия массы на краске)

[Василий Ратников]

Длинный вопрос


What considerations led to the decision to have a dedicated and independent system for each propellant pump rather than using a single shared electric motor? Is it an issue of getting enough power out of one motor to do it? Likewise - can you give some thoughts on where the upper limit in engine capability might be beyond which electric pumps become impractical?
Then just a couple general questions about the engine:
 

[/li]
• 
  spark ignition or something else?
• 
  does the engine rely on any ablative cooling inside the chamber, throat, or nozzle? If so, is it a 3D printed process using the same material as the rest of the body or is it a different material?
• 
  can you give us the area ratios for the booster and vacuum nozzles?
  

Короткий ответ
We wanted super accurate control over oxygen fuel ratio and start up and shutdown transients and throttling. Ignition is an augmented spark igniter. Engine uses fully regeneratively cooled, 3D printed chamber. Area ratio is 14 for the booster and 100 for the vac.

Электронасосы на каждый двигатель якобы для точности управления.
Зажигание искрой
Ну и степени расширения. 14 и 100.

[Василий Ратников]

Самый для меня интересный вопрос


The Rutherford engine is the first design to use a completely external source of turbopump power in perhaps half a century. However, it uses batteries, an energy source not known for its high energy density.
 

[/li]
• 
  What's the break-even point (probably in terms of thrust) between Rutherford and a conventional gas generator or preburner?
• 
  Is the concept applicable to smaller engines that are currently pressure-fed? What about large and complex RCS arrays like Buran's ODU? Is the Curie kick motor pressure-fed?
• 
  Have you looked into other sources of electricity for the Rutherford, such as a nozzle-mounted MHD coil?
  

Не очень информативный ответ.

It's not what you think. Large engines actually scale quite well as it turns out. Although you don't have the storage density you do have the efficiency. Gas generator <50% efficient cycle. electric cycle >95%. So you need less energy to start with. If you eject batteries you're in a good spot.
Small engines work well and tradeout pressure fed nicely.
We've looked at other electric energy sources and that's all I'll say about that.
 
Якобы можно рассти вверх даже на электричестве.  Так как ТНА это 50% КПД а электронасос 95% то надо меньше энергии. Если выбрасывать батареи в полете, то с весовым совершенством все норм.
Они смотрели другие источники электроэнергии, и это все что он скажет.

[Василий Ратников]

Вопрос
What is Rocket Lab's timeline (or, number of completed missions) to profitability?
    What is your view of Relativity Space taking 3D printing rocket components to a new extreme?
    What's your view on the unauthorized Swarm Technologies launch in January (i.e., do you see actual policies or FCC enforcement changing?) Does Rocket Lab work with the FCC on behalf of the companies' which have payloads on Electron?

Ответ
We'll see positive cash flow on our 5th flight.
As for Relativity, they're doing cool stuff. Take it from us though, some things make sense to 3D print and some things don't. It's about optimizing your material and process for the application.
No payload should ever launch without a license. The payload providers are responsible for getting the license but we sure do check.

Не понимаю что такое положительный входящий поток денег ? Это у них есть оплаченные заказы на 5 запусков ?
3Д это круто.
Лицензирование полезной нагрузки это важная часть бюрократии, изготовитель обязан лицензировать, запускатель проверить наличие лицензии.