Rocket Lab identifies cause of Electron failure
Posted: Thu, Aug 6, 2020, 5:35 PM ET (2135 GMT)
Rocket Lab says a faulty electrical connection caused the failure of its Electron rocket in a launch a month ago. The company announced Friday that an investigation found that the electrical connection was "intermittently secure" during the launch, creating electrical resistance that led to heating and thermal expansion of the electrical component. That ultimately caused a disconnection in the overall electrical system, triggering a shutdown of the rocket's second stage engine. The problem was not seen in earlier launches and evaded pre-launch testing. Rocket Lab doesn't plan to make major changes to the design of Electron, but will instead improve testing and other procedures. The company expects to resume Electron launches later this month from New Zealand.
Rocket Lab says a faulty electrical connection caused the failure of its Electron rocket in a launch a month ago. The company announced Friday that an investigation found that the electrical connection was "intermittently secure" during the launch, creating electrical resistance that led to heating and thermal expansion of the electrical component. That ultimately caused a disconnection in the overall electrical system, triggering a shutdown of the rocket's second stage engine. The problem was not seen in earlier launches and evaded pre-launch testing. Rocket Lab doesn't plan to make major changes to the design of Electron, but will instead improve testing and other procedures. The company expects to resume Electron launches later this month from New Zealand.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
NASA releases report on Starliner crewed test flight problems
Posted: Sun, Feb 22 11:45 AM ET (1645 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, February 24
Astronaut mission could anchor Australia's place in $900bn global space market
Univ. of Western Australia — 6:48 am ET (1148 GMT) Advancing research and development of Large Space Structures
ESA — 6:48 am ET (1148 GMT) Galileo vs. spoofing: ESA tests in real-world environments
ESA — 6:48 am ET (1148 GMT) Planned new telescopes for Haleakala draw strong opposition
Honolulu Star-Advertiser — 6:45 am ET (1145 GMT) SpaceX’s Mega IPO Redraws 2026 Road Map for Listing Hopefuls
Bloomberg News — 6:42 am ET (1142 GMT) |
