The New Zealand private space company is preparing for the second test launch

The New Zealand company Rocket Lab, which is striving to market the private space sector, is preparing for the second test launch of its Electron missile. Next week, on Friday, December 8, a 10-day window will open, within which the company plans to start. The launch of the missile, as in the previous time, will be carried out from the New Zealand cosmodrome located on the Machia Peninsula. For Rocket Lab, this launch will be the first, within which the company intends to conduct a live broadcast.

Despite the fact that the launch will be test, it can also be called the first commercial for the company, since the Electron rocket will carry a useful load in the form of Dove topographic satellite Planet, as well as two Spur satellites Lemur-2: one meteorological, the other - for gps-monitoring of floating vessels.

"This is simultaneously the second test and the first commercial launch for us. Therefore, we will try to carefully follow everything and still bring the payload to a given orbit, "commented Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab.

The company expects that the launch can be canceled several times in order to select the most optimal weather conditions, but nevertheless it will take place.

Recall that the first test launch of the Electron rocket took place on May 25 this year. It turned out to be partially successful, since the rocket did not reach the given orbit. Subsequent analysis of telemetry showed that the rocket still did all that was required of it, but the short-term desynchronization in the incorrectly configured communication equipment led to the fact that the automatic missile, as was prescribed in the case of such excesses, decided to interrupt the flight.

The company notes that all these problems have already been solved, and therefore in Rocket Lab expect that the second launch should go smoothly. It is also interesting to note that in general Rocket Lab planned to conduct three test launches, but if this time everything goes as planned, then from the third launch can refuse and immediately go to commercial flights.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/novozelandskaya-chastnaya-kosmicheskaya-kompaniya-gotovitsya-ko-vtoromu-testovomu-zapusku.html.