New Zealand rocket caught but then dropped by helicopter
New Zealand Rocket Catch In this image supplied by Rocket Lab, the Electron rocket blasts off for its "There And Back Again" mission from their launch pad on the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, Tuesday, May 3, 2022. That's when the helicopter crew sprang into action, dangling a long line with a hook below the helicopter to snag the booster's parachute lines. The crew caught the rocket but the load on the helicopter exceeded the parameters from tests and simulations, so they jettisoned it again. They just didn't like the way the load was feeling,” Beck said of the helicopter crew in a conference call after the launch. Rocket Lab named its latest mission “There And Back Again” — a reference to the movie trilogy “The Hobbit” which was filmed in New Zealand.
wftv.comNew Zealand rocket caught but then dropped by helicopter
Using a helicopter to catch a falling rocket is such a complex task that Peter Beck likens it to a “supersonic ballet.” Rocket Lab, the company that Beck founded, partially pulled off the feat Tuesday as it pushes to make its small Electron rockets reusable. The California-based company regularly launches 18-meter (59-foot) rockets from the remote Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand to deliver satellites into space.
news.yahoo.comRocket Lab's next-gen Neutron rocket will be reusable (and have a 'Hungry Hippo' nose cone)
RocketLab's next-generation Neutron rocket promises to take reusability to the next level with a 'hungry hippo' nose cone integrated into a first stage that returns to the launch pad ready to fly again like an aircraft.
space.comRocket Lab will launch a US Space Force experimental satellite Thursday: Watch live
Rocket Lab will launch an experimental research and development satellite to low Earth orbit tomorrow (July 29) for the U.S. Space Force. The mission will demonstrate the feasibility of large deployable sensors.
space.comNew Zealand latest nation to sign space agreement with NASA
New Zealand NASA FILE - In this April 3, 2010, file photo, a female Osprey and one of her three chicks are seen against the backdrop of the NASA logo at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. New Zealand announced Tuesday, June 1, 2021, that it was the latest country to sign a space agreement with NASA, just as New Zealand's nascent space industry begins to take off. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File) (Terry Renna)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — New Zealand announced Tuesday it was the latest country to sign a space agreement with NASA, just as New Zealand's nascent space industry begins to take off. There could also soon be a second New Zealand launch site. The government announced Tuesday it was partnering with Indigenous Maori to buy land in the Canterbury region to develop a space launch site. Estimates indicate the New Zealand space industry is worth 1.7 billion New Zealand dollars ($1.2 billion) and that space manufacturing generates about NZ$250 million a year.
wftv.comNew Zealand latest nation to sign space agreement with NASA
New Zealand announced Tuesday it was the latest country to sign a space agreement with NASA, just as New Zealand's nascent space industry begins to take off. New Zealand became the eleventh signatory to the Artemis Accords, a blueprint for space cooperation and supporting the U.S. space agency's plans to return humans to the moon by 2024 and to launch a historic human mission to Mars. Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand was one of only a handful of nations able to launch rockets into space.
news.yahoo.comRocket Lab CEO eats (part of) his hat revealing new rocket capable of human spaceflight
Rocket Lab, a California-based private company, is currently launching its small class Electron rocket from New Zealand and soon, Virginia. Rocket Lab plans to adapt the spacecraft to send a series of private robotic missions to Venus beginning in 2023. AdRocket Lab CEO Peter Beck and Neutron (Rocket Lab 2021)“It’s about time I finally ate the hat,” he said, placing a Rocket Lab baseball cap in a blending machine and then putting the blended up pieces in a martini glass. After more than 3 years of delivering reliable access to orbit, Rocket Lab is planning to go public on the @Nasdaq. https://t.co/aPe9PboexG pic.twitter.com/i7lY250mBT — Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) March 1, 2021“One thing that’s probably more exciting and most unusual for Rocket Lab is that this vehicle is capable of human spaceflight,” Beck said.
There’s more than 1 way to send a spacecraft to Venus
AdIt used to be -- in the U.S.-- NASA was the only way to fund and send a robotic mission to another world, but not anymore. The company wants to send the first robotic mission to Venus in 2023. (Image credit: Rocket Lab) (Rocket Lab)Meanwhile, NASA is considering funding its own missions to the planet considered Earth’s twin. Currently there are two Venus missions under consideration and two more equally fascinating missions, one designed to study Jupiter’s moon Io and another to Neptune’s moon Triton. AdHere’s what launching a robotic mission to another planet looks like, in a nutshell, according to Wagner:“This is what a typical NASA mission is.
New discovery adds to excitement for Rocket Lab’s mission to Venus
Private space company, Rocket Lab has had plans in the works to launch a spacecraft to Venus on its Electron rocket as soon as 2023. The announcement this week added to the excitement of a mission to the second planet from the sun coming up in the near future. So from a from a climate perspective, I think we have a lot to learn from Venus,” Beck said. “Don’t get me wrong, I like Mars to just not as much as Venus,” Beck said. Rocket Lab is known for its quirky mission names but Beck says they have still not decided to on a name for the mission to Venus.
FAA clears Rocket Lab to fly again after sneaky issue causes launch failure
California-based space startup Rocket Lab will resume launching its Electron rockets from New Zealand this month four weeks after the company experienced its first launch failure. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said in a call with reporters Friday the Federal Aviation Administration approved the company to resume launches after an FAA-supported investigation identified the cause of the July 4 launch failure from Mahia, New Zealand. Electron had 12 previous successful launches from New Zealand prior to the 13th doomed launch. After duplicating the issue, Beck said the team was about to mitigate the problem through a slight change in its production process. Rocket Lab did not announce when in August the company plans to launch again or with what payload.