Rocket Lab to Resume Electron
Launches in August
July 31, 2020
Rocket Lab has received
approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
to resume launches this month after identifying an
anomalous electrical connection as the cause of an
in-flight failure on July 4, 2020. With corrective
measures underway, the next Electron launch has been
scheduled for August from Launch Complex 1.
Over the past month, Rocket Lab has
collaborated on an investigation with the support of the
FAA, the primary federal licensing body for commercial
space launch activity. Rocket Lab’s Accident
Investigation Board (AIB) worked through an extensive
fault tree analysis to examine all potential causes for
the anomaly that took place late into Rocket Lab’s 13th
launch.
On July 4, 2020, the Electron
launch vehicle successfully lifted-off from Launch
Complex 1 and proceeded through a nominal first stage
engine burn, Stage 1-2 separation, Stage 2 ignition, and
fairing jettison as planned. Several minutes into the
second stage burn, the engine performed a safe shutdown
resulting in a failure to reach orbit. Due to the
controlled way the engine shut down, Rocket Lab
continued to receive telemetry from the vehicle,
providing engineers with extensive data to conduct a
robust investigation into the issue. After reviewing
more than 25,000 channels of data and carrying out
extensive testing, Rocket Lab’s AIB was able to
confidently narrow the issue down to a single anomalous
electrical connection. This connection was
intermittently secure through flight, creating
increasing resistance that caused heating and thermal
expansion in the electrical component. This caused the
surrounding potting compounds to liquefy, leading to the
disconnection of the electrical system and subsequent
engine shutdown. The issue evaded pre-flight detection
as the electrical connection remained secure during
standard environmental acceptance testing including
vibration, thermal vacuum, and thermal cycle tests.
Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s founder
and CEO, said the issue had never been observed before
across the company’s previous 12 Electron launches. “The
issue occurred under incredibly specific and unique
circumstances, causing the connection to fail in a way
that we wouldn’t detect with standard testing. Our team
has now reliably replicated the issue in test and
identified that it can be mitigated through additional
testing and procedures.”
He added that the Rocket Lab team
is immensely grateful for the continued support of our
customers and the FAA as the company worked meticulously
through the flight investigation. “It’s a testament to
Electron’s track record of reliability that the FAA has
approved us for return to flight already. Electron was
the 4th most frequently launched rocket in the world
last year and prior to the anomaly we had deployed 53
customer payloads to orbit without fail. Returning to
the pad with an even more reliable vehicle for our
mission partners is our top priority.”
Rocket Lab is now set to return to
the pad in August to launch a dedicated mission from
Launch Complex 1 Pad A on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula.
Specific details of the launch window and customer will
be provided in the coming days.
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