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New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

bbc.com

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Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#31

Post by TallGuyShort »

>> Eventually, Rocket Lab says it will be lofting payloads up to 150kg (331lbs) into a 500km-high orbits that go from pole to pole.

My first reaction was surprise at the launch-site, since I know much trouble has been taken to be near the equator for launches to aid in achieving orbit (for many types of orbit). Does it help to be closer to the pole for polar orbits? I wouldn't have thought it would make a difference, but this is the first time I can remember I've read about a launch so far from the equator.

edit: Wow - my mental image of where Orlando and Kazakhstan were relative to the equator is WAY off. Orlando sits at about 29* N, and Kazakhstan is about 40* N at best - further than the site in New Zealand. I guess that's just about as far south as the US and Soviet Union could practically get, respectively. Although I'm still curious about the optimal launch site for polar orbits.

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#32

Post by karkisuni »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #31

>> Eventually, Rocket Lab says it will be lofting payloads up to 150kg (331lbs) into a 500km-high orbits that go from pole to pole. My first reaction was surprise at the launch-site, since I know much trouble has been taken to be near the equator for launches to aid in achieving orbit (for many types of orbit). Does it help to be closer to the pole for polar orbits? I wouldn't have thought it would make a difference,…

Helps to be near the equator for two reasons: 1) the earth's rotation is added to your speed, so it takes less energy to get to orbital velocity. Further away from the equator, the less you're moving in the same direction as earth. 2) geosynchronous orbit is a very popular destination and requires the satellite to be at a very specific height directly over the equator. Starting at the equator makes this a whole lot easier.

Neither of those apply to polar orbits. Going south is just as easy no matter where you are.

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#33

Post by duncan_bayne »

djsumdog wrote: post #11
MattPearce wrote: post #7

Awesome! Their NZ office is just 10 minutes from my house, I was going to apply for a C++ dev role with them but was warned by the recruiter that everyone was expected to work 12 hours a day, so unfortunately I had to give it a miss as I wasn't comfortable with that.

A really good friend of mine moved there from Welly. He works insane hours, but he says her loves it. The day of the launch, he was up since 3am and he'd need some Red Bull for the party.

I wonder about the trendy startup high pressure environment applied to safety critical engineering areas... to an outsider, it seems like Red Bull fueled 3AM sessions wouldn't combine well with rockets.

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#34

Post by emiliobumachar »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #31

>> Eventually, Rocket Lab says it will be lofting payloads up to 150kg (331lbs) into a 500km-high orbits that go from pole to pole. My first reaction was surprise at the launch-site, since I know much trouble has been taken to be near the equator for launches to aid in achieving orbit (for many types of orbit). Does it help to be closer to the pole for polar orbits? I wouldn't have thought it would make a difference,…

In fact, I've heard that for polar orbits, you actually have to spent extra energy to cancel out all that speed you got for free - in the wrong axis - from Earth's rotation.

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#35

Post by vermontdevil »

bbcbasic wrote: post #29

Rocket Lab's website already allows you to book a slot for your satellite. The cheapest deal is a small cubesat on a rideshare option - prices start at $77,000 (£59,280). Wow a satellite in orbit for the price of a car.

Maybe we all should chip in for a project on behalf of HN for a cubestat?

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#36

Post by punkrex »

Inconel wrote: post #24
sand500 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are all the engineers Non American citizens then? Wouldn't trying to hire American citizens also be a nightmare with ITAR?

I would assume most of their employees in NZ hold NZ citizenship although I'm unsure exactly how NZ handles ITAR. They have engineers/technicians based in the US as well and I would assume most of those are US Persons (US Citizens or Permanent Residents). In the US you can get ITAR exemptions for non-US Persons but from my understanding it's a more difficult and much more expensive process so it is only done to recru…

While it's not exactly the same as ITAR, NZ already allows citizens of five eye countries to get security clearances without any ties to NZ.

So I would imagine that from NZs perspective it wouldn't be a big deal to let foreigners work on export controlled projects.

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#37

Post by maverick_iceman »

Moon Express, one of the finalists of the Google Lunar X Prize, has a verified launch contract with Rocket Lab [1]. However, I'm doubtful whether they'll be able to pull off this launch by end of 2017.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Lunar_X_Prize

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#38

Post by pinewurst »

nkoren wrote: post #5

More detailed article here: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/rocket-labs-electron... Note that the rocket failed to reach orbit as intended.

"Unfortunately, as the Atea-1 had no telemetry downlink, was not tracked by ground-based assets, and was not recovered, its maximum altitude during its only flight is unknown and it is not possible to verify the claim that it reached space."

Edit: I'd delete if I could as this is older launch

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#39

Post by pinewurst »

nkoren wrote: post #5

More detailed article here: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/rocket-labs-electron... Note that the rocket failed to reach orbit as intended.

"Unfortunately, as the Atea-1 had no telemetry downlink, was not tracked by ground-based assets, and was not recovered, its maximum altitude during its only flight is unknown and it is not possible to verify the claim that it reached space."

Re: New Zealand space launch is first from a private site

#40

Post by pinewurst »

nkoren wrote: post #5

More detailed article here: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/rocket-labs-electron... Note that the rocket failed to reach orbit as intended.

"Unfortunately, as the Atea-1 had no telemetry downlink, was not tracked by ground-based assets, and was not recovered, its maximum altitude during its only flight is unknown and it is not possible to verify the claim that it reached space."
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