Rocket Lab reaches 50th Electron mission launch

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket has achieved remarkable milestones in its development. The vehicle is the first to use an entirely carbon-fiber body, the first to use electric turbopumps, and according to Rocket Lab, is the fastest commercially developed rocket in history to reach 50 launches, taking just seven years and 25 days, narrowly beating this record previously set by SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

During its first 49 flights, Electron has launched 185 satellites, and there are now more than 1,700 satellites in orbit using Rocket Lab technology. However, the company has also experienced four mission failures, including its first launch and most recently the “We Will Never Desert You” mission in September 2023, where an electrical arc led to a short in the power system used for motor controls.

The standard Electron configuration features a first stage with nine Rutherford sea level engines, each producing 21 kN (4,800 lbf) of thrust at liftoff and peaking at 25 kN (5,600 lbf). The second stage includes a Rutherford vacuum engine with 25.8 kN (5,800 lbf) of thrust. Both variants of the Rutherford engine are powered by electric pumps, a unique feature that requires a battery hot-swap procedure mid-flight.

Rocket Lab has also been working on making its first stages reusable. Initially, they tested capturing the booster out of mid-air using a helicopter dangling a hook, but these attempts were ultimately abandoned in favor of landing the boosters in the ocean and recovering them via a chase boat. The most recent booster was recovered following the “Four of a Kind” launch on January 31, 2024.

After its 50th flight, Rocket Lab’s Rutherford engines will have flown 499 times, including sea level and vacuum variants. The company has also announced a record launch agreement with Synspective for ten dedicated flights aboard Electron, the largest in Rocket Lab’s history, to deploy synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor-equipped satellites for the Japan-based company.

The mission dubbed “No Time Toulouse” represented a significant milestone for Kinéis, a French company supported by public investors like France’s space agency CNES and CLS. This launch marked the first of five planned Electron missions to deploy Kinéis’ new 25-satellite constellation dedicated to improving global Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity.

Each of the five satellites launched on this mission has a compact size of 16U, where 1U is a 10cm cube, and a mass of only 28 kg (61 pounds). To accommodate this small form factor, the satellites feature a deployable antenna structure consisting of a foldable UHF antenna and a rigid S-band antenna, co-designed by Cobham Aerospace Communications and Comat, and produced by the Toulouse-based company Comat.

UHF Kinéis antennas in production at Comat. (Credit: Kinéis)

Future satellites in the constellation will also include an Automatic Identification System (AIS) payload with six monopole antennas, enabling maritime traffic surveillance and anti-collision systems for ships in dense shipping or fishing zones. Some satellites will also feature a field-emission electric propulsion (FEEP) thruster powered by solar panels for on-orbit maneuvering.

Once the complete 25-satellite constellation is operational, Kinéis claims that compatible IoT devices worldwide will be able to connect to the network and transmit sensor-collected data through the in-space relays, complemented by 15 ground stations as of June 2024. This global connectivity will enable various applications, from smart home devices and wearables to industrial machinery and environmental monitoring for agriculture.