#electron rocket

Electron soars on inaugural test flight, paving way for commercial operations.

Rocket Lab broke through the smallsat launch industry Thursday (May 25) with the first launch of its Electron rocket. Dubbed “It's a Test” by the U.S.-based company, Electron carried a sensor package in lieu of satellites for this mission, providing engineers with over 25,000 channels of data.

Nine Rutherford engines – made in-house by Rocket Lab – powered the 56-foot rocket off its seaside launch complex on New Zealand's Mahia peninsula. Launch Complex-1 is the country's first orbital launch facility. Liftoff occurred at 4:20 UTC, or 12:20am EDT May 25.

Two and a half minutes after liftoff the rocket's first stage fell away and a single Rutherford engine on the upper stage ignited. The vehicle's payload fairing jettisoned as the second stage continued its powered climb to orbit. Although the vehicle did reach space – defined as 62 miles above the Earth's surface – Rocket Lab indicated after the flight that Electron did not achieve orbital velocity. The company did not go into detail on what the potential issues with the flight were that caused its sensor package to not achieve orbit.

Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex-1, located on Mahia Point, New Zealand. Orbital imagery courtesy Digital Globe.

Electron is one of only a handful of rocket's designed entirely in the 21st century. As such, it features a plethora of unique technologies that make it stand out against other vehicles in the commercial launch market. Each Rutherford engine is 3D printed and is fed by all-electric pumps, earning the nickname “the battery-powered rocket”. The use of composite materials for the entire rocket's body has never been done before and gives Electron a sleek black appearance. Electron is the first rocket in a burgeoning class of small launchers to take flight that will cater to the small satellite market. Vector Space Systems recently completed a subscale, single-engine test launch of their Vector-R vehicle, however, full-scale test flights still need to occur. Rocket Labs hopes to fly two more test flights in the coming months before Electron is declared operational by the end of 2017. Click here for our preview story on Electron’s flight.

Electron rocket prepares for maiden flight.

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is undergoing final preparations for its inaugural launch at the company’s seaside launch site in New Zealand. The world’s first all-electric rocket, Electron will eventually be used to loft small payloads into Earth orbit.loft small payloads into Earth orbit.

Before entering operational service, Rocket Lab must first put the vehicle through a series of flight tests to validate the rocket’s design as well as ground support equipment at the newly-completed launch pad. The first of three test flights will occur within a 10-day launch window opening May 22. Flight one is dubbed ‘It’s a Test’ by the company’s workforce, and aims to place a dummy nosecone into an elliptical orbit between 300 and 500 kilometres high. Over 20,000 different channels of data will be telemetered to ground controllers by an instrument package during the flight. Once the data from Flight One has been analyzed, flights two and three will occur back to back. Those launches will place cubesats into Earth Orbit while verifying more components of the vehicle’s systems. Rocket Labs hopes Electron will enter commercial service by the end of 2017.

Launch Complex-1, Electron's launch site at Rocket Lab’s private launch facility, Mahia peninsula, New Zealand.