Author Topic: FAILURE: Electron : Capella : We will never desert you : LC-1B: 19 Sep 2023 (06:55 UTC) (Read 47231 times)

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #40 on:** 09/19/2023 06:58 am »

T+2 minutes.

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #41 on:** 09/19/2023 06:59 am »

First stage separation.

Oh Oh!

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #42 on:** 09/19/2023 07:00 am »

"We have experienced an anomaly." Going into action plan.

Jrcraft · « **Reply #43 on:** 09/19/2023 07:01 am »

Velocity decreasing while altitude increasing just after staging. Thats it. Also that image is not nominally seen for Rutherford-Vac ignitions.

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #44 on:** 09/19/2023 07:01 am »

T+5 minutes. Saw some red signs at the back of the control room.

End of webcast.

catdlr · « **Reply #45 on:** 09/19/2023 07:02 am »

My condolences to Rocket Lab. Hopefully, they will have the data to resolve the issue. It's been 40 good flights now.

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #46 on:** 09/19/2023 07:06 am »

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1704026652735615286

Quote

Lift-off for “We Will Never Desert You,” carrying the next generation Acadia SAR satellite for @CapellaSpace.

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1704027609481556005

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Electron has cleared Max-Q.

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The launch director has called an anomaly, resulting in the end of the mission. We'll share more information as it comes to hand.

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #47 on:** 09/19/2023 07:08 am »

Lots of sparks at engine start. Followed by some brightness, darkness and brightness at which point the video freezes. Speed declines from 7852 to 7502 km/h (2181 to 2084 m/s) over 22 seconds, indicating that the second stage failed to start.

catdlr · « **Reply #48 on:** 09/19/2023 07:12 am »

Clip of staging and call for anomaly by LD:

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxPCcooobm8GL7CSYGfUSwxGmcDhcSuUFp?si=gC0hmHWwIi8D5b9R

Jrcraft · « **Reply #49 on:** 09/19/2023 07:13 am »

0.25 playback speed of staging. Interesting colors and sparks.
https://twitter.com/Jrcraft__/status/1704030754320056410

whatsup · « **Reply #50 on:** 09/19/2023 07:15 am »

Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 09/19/2023 07:01 am

T+5 minutes. Saw some red signs at the back of the control room.

Could be reflections from the red floor lighting?

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #51 on:** 09/19/2023 07:20 am »

From the high res video that was posted. Big explosion of light around the engine, followed by sparks seemingly from outside the engine. Looks like a big electrical failure.

Zed_Noir · « **Reply #52 on:** 09/19/2023 07:28 am »

Maybe thermal runaway event with a Li-ion battery resulting in energetic event damaging critical wiring circuits.

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #53 on:** 09/19/2023 07:31 am »

Quote from: Zed_Noir on 09/19/2023 07:28 am

Maybe thermal runaway event with a Li-ion battery resulting in energetic event damaging critical wiring circuits.

Could be, but the event we saw was very fast, happening in a few tenths of a second. A major short circuit could explain what we saw.

whatsup · « **Reply #54 on:** 09/19/2023 07:31 am »

Given the staging just happened, and if they had a camera on stage 1 it would probably have a good view of the source of the sparks and what was happening with the Rutherford-Vac engine.

catdlr · « **Reply #55 on:** 09/19/2023 07:35 am »

Here is a clip of a good staging for comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx6omc9m5mthJ7KmH203TeuF0HlMeBvfE1

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #56 on:** 09/19/2023 07:41 am »

twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1704026672993894750

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LAUNCH! Rocket Lab Electron launches mission 41 - a launch for Capella Space - from Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.

Overview:
nasaspaceflight.com/2023/09/launch…

Rocket Lab Livestream:
youtube.com/watch?v=AfYFqs…

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1704027512756437279

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FAILURE. Staged, but the second stage appeared to have an issue at ignition. Anomaly has been called.

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #57 on:** 09/19/2023 07:49 am »

GewoonLukas_ · « **Reply #58 on:** 09/19/2023 08:52 am »

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Rocket Lab Launch Update
September 19, 2023

MAHIA, New Zealand--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), today experienced an issue during the launch of the Company’s 41st mission. Following lift-off from Launch Complex 1, the rocket successfully completed a first stage burn and stage separation as planned, before an issue was experienced at around T+ 2 minutes and 30 seconds into flight, resulting in the end of the mission.

We are deeply sorry to our partners Capella Space for the loss of the mission.

We are working closely with the FAA and supporting agencies as the investigation into the root cause commences. The Electron rocket has previously delivered 171 satellites to orbit across 37 successful orbital missions. We will identify the issue swiftly and implement corrective actions and return to the pad shortly.

Our next mission, currently scheduled before the end of the third quarter, will be postponed while we implement corrective actions. We anticipate providing revised third quarter revenue guidance in the coming days.

GewoonLukas_ · « **Reply #59 on:** 09/19/2023 08:59 am »

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Tough day. My deepest apologies to our mission partners Capella Space. Team is already working on root cause. We’ll find it, fix it and be back on the pad quickly.

https://twitter.com/Peter_J_Beck/status/1704056888437133599