Rocket Lab successfully reflew an engine on an Electron launch Aug. 23 as the company moves a step closer to reusing the entire rocket booster.
The Electron rocket lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 7:45 p.m. Eastern. The “We Love the Nightlife” mission deployed a Capella Space radar imaging satellite into a 640-kilometer mid-inclination orbit 58 minutes after liftoff.
The launch was originally scheduled for July 30 but scrubbed because of data from a sensor in one engine that indicated low igniter pressure. A second attempt on Aug. 6 was also scrubbed.
Rocket Lab decided to replace the entire booster with one that the company had just completed. The new booster, unlike the original one, was designed for recovery.
“The call was made to bring forward that recovery booster and swap the payload onto this Electron to tighten the turnaround to get back to the pad for Capella and accelerate our efforts to make Electron a reusable rocket at the exact same time,” Rocket Lab spokesperson Murielle Baker said during the launch webcast.
The booster not only was designed for reuse but also, among its nine Rutherford engines, was one that had flown on an Electron launch in May 2022. The engine had gone through what Rocket Lab described as multiple full-duration hotfire tests to confirm it could be flown again.
“The data is in, perfect performance from the reused engine and the stage,” Peter Beck, Rocket Lab chief executive, tweeted after the launch.
During an Aug. 8 earnings call, Beck suggested that reflying a Rutherford engine, then scheduled for some time before the end of the year, was one of the final steps before the company is ready to reuse an entire booster.
“From there we’ll schedule the first reflight of a full stage booster,” he said in the call, but did not offer a timeline for doing so beyond noting that additional improvements to support reusability were planned for the 45th flight of the vehicle.
