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SHOW DAILY SHOW Aug Aug. 7, 2019 • Visit us at 239T DAY 2 SHOW DAILY OFFICIAL SHOW DAILY OF THE 33RD AIAA/USU CONFERENCE ON SMALL SATELLITES Rocket Lab to attempt to reuse first stage of Electron launcher ocket Lab announced Aug. The key challenge, Beck said, is 6 it will attempt to recover to get through what he dubbed “the Rthe first stage of its Electron wall”: the sudden deceleration of the small launch vehicle over the next first stage during reentry, when it several months, eventually reusing goes from Mach 8.5 to nearly zero it to allow the company to increase in 75 seconds. “That is really, really, its launch rate. hard to do,” he said. “The amount The company has already started of energy you have to dissipate is work to instrument and modify phenomenal.” Electron first stages so that they can Beck declined to go into detail survive reentry at hypersonic speeds, about how exactly the stage will slow with the ultimate goal of having stages down because it involves the use of caught in midair by a helicopter so proprietary technology. He did note that they can be easily refurbished that, unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the and launched again. Electron first stage won’t do a series of Peter Beck, chief executive of engine firings to slow down. A small Rocket Lab, said in an interview that launch vehicle like the Electron, he the goal of this effort is not to reduce argued, doesn’t have the margin to launch prices but instead increase carry the extra propellant needed for The scene at Rocket Lab’s booth at the SmallSat Conference on Tuesday afternoon. the company’s launch rate without such maneuvers. having to expand its factory. After the 10th flight of the Elec- with a helicopter equipped with a have only a “marginal payload hit” “At the moment we just can’t build tron — the upcoming launch is the “skyhook” attachment. “As a budding on the vehicle, which Beck said enough rockets,” he said. The com- eighth — Rocket Lab plans to do a helicopter pilot, I can tell you the would likely be counteracted by pany’s factory current produces one “block upgrade” of the rocket, which helicopter piece is easy, compared overall improvements in the rocket’s Electron every 30 days. “We need to will include adding components to getting through the wall,” he said. performance. get that down to one a week.” to support recovery. In a best-case The midair recovery will allow Beck said he previously believed The company started to pursue scenario, Beck said it might be Rocket Lab to quickly refurbish the reusability wouldn’t be feasible for recovery and reuse of the first stage possible to recover an Electron first stage and launch it again. Beck a small launcher. The combination early this year, including adding stage by the end of the year, with the declined to speculate how many of a better understanding of the instrumentation on the previous stage splashing down in the ocean times each stage could be flown. rocket’s performance, along with Electron flight June 29. The next downrange from the company’s “Even if I only fly it once more, I the pressure to increase produc- Electron, scheduled to launch Aug. New Zealand launch site. essentially double production,” he tion, led him and the company to 16, will carry a data recorder designed Once that is accomplished, Beck said. “That’s a massive win. It’s not reconsider it. to survive reentry to measure the said Rocket Lab will immediately easy to double your production rate “For a long time, I said we weren’t stage’s performance during recovery. move into the second stage of the in a factory.” going to do reusability,” he said. “This recovery, which involves catching the The additional of recovery sys- is one of those occasions where I ROCKET LAB JEFF FOUST stage, descending under a parachute, tems to the Electron first stage should have to eat my hat.” SN DAY 2 | SPACENEWS SHOW DAILY | 1 SHOW DAILY DAY 2 Spaceflight buys first commercial flight of new Indian small launcher paceflight announced Aug. 6 that it will purchase the first commercial launch a Snew Indian vehicle scheduled to make its debut later this year. Spaceflight said it will launch payloads for an undisclosed U.S. satellite constellation customer on a flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), a derivative of the existing, larger Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The launch is scheduled for later this year and will be the second for the SSLV after a demonstration launch expected no earlier than September. While the companies didn’t announce the customer for the mission, a July 25 filing with the Federal Communications Commission by Earth imaging company BlackSky Global sought a license for four of its satellites it said would launch on the SSLV in November 2019. The applications said the satellites would be deployed into two orbital planes, consistent with Spaceflight’s announcement. Spaceflight, ADwhich provides rideshare services on a wide range of launch vehicles, believes the SSLV will be an ideal fit for many of its customers based on the vehicle’s perfor- mance and its cost. “I think its hugely exciting because it’s an Spaceflight has flown more than 100 sat- “There is a shortage of attractive price point and, for us, it’s a really ellites on several previous PSLV launches, and good size,” said Curt Blake, president and chief said that even with the introduction of SSLV he launch capacity right executive of Spaceflight, in an interview during anticipated more rideshare missions on that now…we just need more the Conference on Small Satellites. “And there larger rocket. “Launch is such a scarce resource is a shortage of launch capacity right now, that not optimizing to bring your costs down small launch vehicles especially to sun-synchronous orbit.” by utilizing every bit of capacity there is is kind out there.” SSLV will be able to carry up to 500 kilograms of wrong,” he said. to mid-inclination low Earth orbits and 300 Spaceflight is using a wide range of launch ve- Curt Blake, Spaceflight president and chief kilograms to SSO. While the company didn’t hicles to meet the growing demand for dedicated executive disclose pricing, Blake said the price is “a little and rideshare smallsat services. The company flew bit better” than rideshares on PSLV. “In terms seven smallsats on the previous Rocket Lab Elec- to flight, but that none of his customers had yet of small launch vehicles, it’s much better than tron launch June 29, and will fly three satellites on asked to be moved off the flight. Arianespace what’s out there,” he added. the next Electron launch, scheduled for Aug. 16. officials at the conference said Aug. 5 that they That price, he said, is low enough that Space- The company also has payloads on the first had no updates on the status of the Vega, as flight can afford to purchase several vehicles at Small Satellite Mission Service flight of the Vega the board of inquiry convened to investigate a time, meeting needs of customers that need small launch vehicle, which will carry 42 sat- the failure was still at work. to go to specific orbits. NewSpace India Ltd., ellites overall. That launch was scheduled for Spaceflight is also looking for other options, the Indian venture that is marketing the SSLV September but will likely be postponed because including new small launch vehicles, to meet to Spaceflight and other customers, is “flexible of the ongoing investigation into the July 10 demand. “We just need more small launch and accommodating to work with,” he noted. failure of a Vega rocket carrying an imaging vehicles out there,” he said. SN “It’s going to be a huge boon for the industry.” satellite for the United Arab Emirates. Blake said he was awaiting to hear the out- SpaceNews staff writer Caleb Henry contributed JEFF FOUST come of the investigation and plans for return to this article from Washington. KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS 2 | SPACENEWS U.S. military eager to take advantage of smallsats at scale — if price is right he U.S. military is eager to take advan- tage of small satellite constellations Tif the technology proves it can fulfill military requirements and the price is right. If the cost of performing a mission with small satellites in low Earth orbit is seven times as expensive as performing the mission in a different orbit that would be a problem, Col. Dennis Bythewood, U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center program executive officer for space development, said Aug. 5 at the Small Satellite Conference. The Air Force is working with government and industry partners to reduce the cost of small satellite sensors. Companies are developing innovative satellite buses and leading the way on autonomous spacecraft operations, but the military still is looking for missile warning, tac- tical satellite communications and intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance payloads it can “afford to proliferate at the numbers we are after,” Bythewood said during a conference panel, “SmallSats at Scale.” The U.S. Army also sees promise in large constellations of small satellites. Since 2010, the Army has sent more than a dozen experimental small satellites into orbit. “People in the Army are starting to believe this Jim Pruneski of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, right, and Col. Dennis Bythewood of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, left, at the Small Satellite Conference on Monday.
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