ELaNa XIX (миссия НАСА) – Electron – Mahia – 16.12.2018 06:33 UTC

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12/16/2018 10:25 Spaceflight Now

Shutdown of the Curie kick stage is confirmed after a planned 90-second firing to circularize its orbit at an altitude of around 310 miles (500 kilometers) before deployment of the mission's 13 nanosatellites.

The kick stage burns a non-toxic "green" monopropellant, but specific details of the fuel have not been released by Rocket Lab.

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12/16/2018 10:27 Spaceflight Now

Rocket Lab says all 13 satellites have been deployed, completing the company's third successful Electron launch in a row. Ground teams working on each CubeSat mission will now wait for radio signals from their satellites confirming their health following today's launch.

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Rocket Lab завершила трансляцию

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Peter Beck‏ @Peter_J_Beck 5 мин. назад

All payloads deployed!! Perfect mission.

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NASA_LSP‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_LSP 29 с. назад

Payload deployment complete for @NASA's first #VentureClass mission, #ELaNa19! Thanks to @RocketLab for the great ride in orbit! For all of our CubeSat teams, we wish you all the best of luck on your scientific data collections! Follow @NASA_LSP for future launch updates.

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Запись трансляции пуска

ELaNa 19 Launch - 12/16/2018

Rocket Lab

Трансляция началась 82 минуты назад

Liftoff of the ELaNa 19 mission for NASA occurred at 06:33 UTC on December 16 2018 from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.

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Анимация

Rocket Lab Electron ELaNa XIX satellites deployment

SciNews

Опубликовано: 15 дек. 2018 г.

(2:16)

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Зафиксирован объект запуска

Код Выделить Развернуть

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43849U 18104A   18350.31877146  .00000367 -11584-5  00000+0 0  9996
2 43849  85.0249 178.2703 0222646 228.3889 227.9809 15.69907981    0043849 / 2018-104A : 209 x 509 km x 85.025°

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Mark Jessop‏ @darksidelemm 1:01 - 16 дек. 2018 г.

Spotted one signal on ~437.560 MHz on the first @RocketLab / @NASA #ELaNa19 pass over Australia. Possibly CHOMPTT, though haven't been able to decode yet. Thanks to @coastal8049 for help with fitting the pre-launch TLE, pass appears to be ~22s early. #hamr

Mark Jessop‏ @darksidelemm 1:08 - 16 дек. 2018 г.

Confirmed this signal is CHOMPTT, 1k2 AFSK! Decoded using UZ7HO's soundmodem. #hamr #ELaNa19

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Rocket Lab‏Подлинная учетная запись @RocketLab 2 ч. назад

Magic happens when @TheFavoritist and @TrevorMahlmann set up cameras on the pad. These two captured Electron in stunning detail for the @NASA #ELaNa19 launch. #GoElectron

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 Trevor Mahlmann‏ @TrevorMahlmann 25 мин. назад

Electron brings the thunder Rocket Lab takes to the skies on its first NASA mission! Honored to have been able to place multiple cameras at Launch Complex-1 for this historic venture class mission. Hope to do it again someday real soon! http://tmahlmann.com/photos/Rockets/Rocket-Lab/ElaNa-XIX/ ...

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https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-successfully-launches-nasa-cubesats-to-orbit-on-first-ever-venture-class-launch-services-mission/

Rocket Lab successfully launches NASA CubeSats to orbit on first ever Venture Class Launch Services mission

Rocket Lab successfully launches NASA CubeSats to orbit on first ever Venture Class Launch Services mission

The mission follows just five weeks after the successful 'It's Business Time' launch in November, and marks Rocket Lab's third orbital launch for 2018

Huntington Beach, California – December 16, 2018 – US small satellite launch company Rocket Lab has launched its third orbital mission of 2018, successfully deploying satellites to orbit for NASA. The mission, designated Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)-19 , took place just over a month after Rocket Lab's last successful orbital launch, 'It's Business Time.' Rocket Lab has launched a total of 24 satellites to orbit in 2018.

On Sunday, December 16, 2018 UTC, Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle successfully lifted off at 06:33 UTC (19:33 NZDT) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Māhia Peninsula. After being launched to an elliptical orbit, Electron's Curie engine-powered kick stage separated from the vehicle's second stage before circularizing to a 500x500 km orbit at an 85 degree inclination. By 56 minutes into the mission, the 13 satellites on board were individually deployed to their precise, designated orbits.

Until now, launch opportunities for small satellites have mostly been limited to rideshare-type arrangements, flying only when space is available on large launch vehicles. This mission, awarded under a Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) Agreement, marks the first time NASA CubeSats received a dedicated ride to orbit on a commercial launch vehicle. VCLS is managed by NASA's Launch Services Program headquartered at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says the ELaNa-19 mission represents a forward-thinking approach from NASA to acquiring launch services and recognizes the increasingly significant role small satellites are playing in exploration, technology demonstration, research and education.

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"The ELaNa-19 mission was a significant one for NASA, the Rocket Lab team and the small satellite industry overall. To launch two missions just five weeks apart, and in the first year of orbital flights, is unprecedented. It's exactly what the small satellite industry desperately needs, and Rocket Lab is proud to be delivering it. Regular and reliable launch is now a reality for small satellites. The wait is over," says Rocket Lab CEO and founder Peter Beck. "We're providing small satellite customers with more control than they've ever had, enabling them to launch on their own schedule, to precise orbits, as frequently as they need to."

NASA ELaNa-19 Mission Manager Justin Treptow adds, "The CubeSats of ELaNa-19 represent a large variety of scientific objectives and technology demonstrations. With this the first launch of a Venture Class Launch Service on the Rocket Lab Electron, NASA now has an option to match our small satellite missions with a dedicated small launch vehicle to place these satellites in an optimal orbit to achieve big results."

The ELaNa-19 launch webcast can be viewed in full at and images from the mission are available in the media library at www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/link-to-rocket-lab-imagery-and-video

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The next Rocket Lab Electron vehicle will be on the pad at Launch Complex 1 in January 2019. For real-time updates and mission announcements, follow Rocket Lab on Twitter @RocketLab.

Photo credit: Trevor Mahlmann

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https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-launches-cubesats-for-nasa/

Rocket Lab launches cubesats for NASA
by Jeff Foust — December 16, 2018


A Rocket Lab Electron carrying 13 cubesats lifts off Dec. 16 from the company's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab/Trevor Mahlmann

WASHINGTON — A Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully launched a group of cubesats Dec. 16 on a mission funded by NASA as the company looks ahead to more frequent launches in the next year.

The Electron rocket lifted off from the company's Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula at 1:33 a.m. Eastern. The rocket placed a kick stage containing the 13 satellites into orbit nine minutes after launch. About 40 minutes, later, the kick stage ignited for a 90-second burn, after which the satellites were placed into 500-kilometer circular orbits at an inclination of 85 degrees.

"All payloads deployed!! Perfect mission," Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, tweeted after the satellites were deployed.

NASA purchased the launch for its CubeSat Launch Initiative program, which provides launches for cubesats developed by academic institutions and NASA centers. This particular flight, known as Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 19, features three satellites built by NASA centers, six by universities and one by a charter school in Idaho.

The satellites range from those built primarily to give students experience in satellite development to those testing advanced technologies. RSat, developed at the U.S. Naval Academy, will test robotic arms planned for future satellite-servicing spacecraft. CubeSat, from the University of Illinois, will test soil sail technology. The Advanced Electrical Bus, or ALBus, satellite from NASA's Glenn Research Center will demonstrate new power systems and solar array deployment technologies.

The launch carried three satellites in addition to the 10 that were part of ELaNa-19. Two of the satellites, collectively known as AeroCube 11, were developed by the Aerospace Corporation to test advanced imaging technologies. The third, Space-Based High Frequency Testbed 2, was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to demonstrate using high-frequency radio signals to study the ionosphere.

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NASA awarded Rocket Lab a contract for the launch in October 2015 through its Venture Class Launch Services program, an effort to develop dedicated launch services for cubesats and other smallsats. Previous ELaNa missions all used secondary payload, or rideshare, accommodations on NASA and other government launches, reducing the control they had over schedule and orbit.

"Matching ELaNa-19 with the Electron rocket gives these advanced scientific and educational satellites first-class tickets to space while providing valuable insight for potential NASA missions in the future," said Justin Treptow, NASA ELaNa-19 mission manager, prior to the launch.

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NASA also awarded Venture Class Launch Services contracts in 2015 to Firefly Space Systems and Virgin Galactic. Firefly lost its contract when the company went through bankruptcy, reemerging as Firefly Aerospace.

Virgin Orbit, the company spun off from Virgin Galactic to develop and operate the LauncherOne air-launch system, is nearing its first launch. The NASA contract will be flown on the second LauncherOne flight, on a mission called ELaNa-20 scheduled no earlier than March 2019. That mission will carry 11 cubesats for universities and NASA's Ames Research Center.

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This launch was the third for Rocket Lab this year and second in a little more than one month. The company called this launch "This One's for Pickering" in honor of the late William Pickering, the New Zealand-born scientist who served as director of JPL from 1954 to 1976.

The company said in a post-launch statement that its next Electron "will be on the pad" in January, but didn't identify the customer. Company officials have previously said they expect to increase their launch cadence in 2019, flying missions at a rate of at least once per month. The company recently opened a factory in Auckland, New Zealand, designed to support the production of one Electron rocket per week.

"Regular and reliable launch is now a reality for small satellites. The wait is over," Beck said in the statement. "We're providing small satellite customers with more control than they've ever had, enabling them to launch on their own schedule, to precise orbits, as frequently as they need to."

Rocket Lab announced a $140 million Series E round Nov. 15 that will help support that increased launch rate. The funding will support, among other efforts, construction of additional launch pads at Launch Complex 1 and the new Launch Complex 2 the company announced in October at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.

"This funding also enables the continued aggressive scale-up of Electron production to support our targeted weekly flight rate," Beck said in a statement then about the new funding round. "It will also see us build additional launch pads and begin work on three major new R&D programs." The company said it will disclose details about those unspecified research and development efforts "in the new year."

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Ещё 3 объекта добавлены в каталог

Код Выделить Развернуть

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43850U 18104B   18350.38423447  .00000041  00000-0  00000+0 0  9990
2 43850  85.0359 178.2488 0012923 286.8551 166.2482 15.21118333    09

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43851U 18104C   18350.50990490  .00000041  00000-0  00000+0 0  9992
2 43851  85.0269 178.1394 0014553 286.7178 134.1207 15.21391589    27

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43852U 18104D   18350.51064337  .00000040  00000-0  00000+0 0  9995
2 43852  85.0311 178.1468 0009247 281.7643 142.7734 15.20430026    2343850 / 2018-104B : 494 x 511 km x 85.036°
43851 / 2018-104C : 492 x 512 km x 85.027°
43852 / 2018-104D : 498 x 511 km x 85.031°

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Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 8:49 - 16 дек. 2018 г.

The first three Electron payloads tracked in 495 x 511 km x 83.0 deg orbits, confirming successful launch. Object 43849, in a 211 x 509 km orbit, is the Electron second stage.

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Обнаружены ещё 2 объекта запуска

Код Выделить Развернуть

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43853U 18104E   18350.56436239  .00000041  00000-0  00000+0 0  9996
2 43853  85.0319 178.1167 0016026 283.2914  76.0512 15.21624401    25

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43854U 18104F   18350.56442176  .00000041  00000-0  00000+0 0  9994
2 43854  85.0260 178.0928 0015506 271.9220  88.0205 15.21902896    0843853 / 2018-104E : 490 x 512 km x 85.032°
43854 / 2018-104F : 489 x 511 km x 85.026°

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+1 (7-й)

Код Выделить Развернуть

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43855U 18104G   18350.69606229  .00000041  00000-0  00000+0 0  9990
2 43855  85.0376 178.0358 0015385 273.8716  86.9855 15.22023856    3243855 / 2018-104G : 489 x 510 km x 85.038 °