Rocket Lab Just Launched Its First Suborbital Rocket
The standard Electron launch platform provides access to orbit and beyond depending on the mission profile. However, with a few changes the system can be altered to a new type of rocket meant for suborbital flight. This idea was pursued by Rocket Lab and just launched for the first time less than a week ago.
Back in April, the company introduced the HASTE rocket (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron), a suborbital testbed launch vehicle derived from Rocket Lab’s heritage Electron rocket. The purpose of this system is to provide reliable, high-cadence flight test opportunities needed to advance hypersonic system technology development.
While it was announced only months ago, Rocket Lab has been working on it for a while based on the fact that this system has already flown just after a few months. With its recent success, we can expect even more missions in the near future, not to mention the host of contracts already secured by the company. Here I will go more in-depth into the first launch, what exactly is the HASTE system, what to expect in the near future, and more.
1st Mission
5 days ago on the 17th, Rocket Lab tweeted saying, “Mission success for the launch of our new suborbital launch vehicle! HASTE took to the skies from Rocket Lab LC-2 in Virginia for a suborbital mission at 21:24pm Eastern. Congratulations to our mission partners, and welcome to a new era of hypersonic test launch capability!” As far as what happened during the actual launch, very little information was provided by the company as this program and tests are not the most public.
Practically the only information we got on the launch was in a quote from Brian Rogers, the Senior Director of Global Launch Services who said, “The success of this mission demonstrates collaboration across government and industry partners to change the paradigm in hypersonic testing. HASTE enables the frequent, affordable flight testing needed to advance the nation’s hypersonic technology development, and we’re proud to be delivering this vital capability. We thank our mission partners for entrusting us with this inaugural mission and look forward to continuing our partnership into the future” he said.
Focusing on the rocket itself, the HASTE suborbital launch vehicle is derived from the Company’s Electron rocket but has a modified Kick Stage for hypersonic payload deployment, a larger payload capacity of up to 700 kg / 1,540 lbs, and options for tailored fairings to accommodate larger payloads, including air-breathing, ballistic re-entry, boost-glide, and space-based applications payloads. By leveraging the heritage of Rocket Lab’s low-cost Electron – the world’s most frequently launched commercial small launch vehicle – HASTE is trying to offer true commercial testing capability at a fraction of the cost of current full-scale tests.
The modified kick stage allows the company to offer some very unique services on a rocket that typically is meant for orbit. The Rocket Lab Kick Stage is designed to deliver small satellites to precise and unique orbits, whether flying as dedicated or rideshare on Electron. The Kick Stage’s propulsion system consists of Rocket Lab’s in-house designed and built Curie engine, six low minimum impulse bit cold gas Reaction Control System thrusters, tank pressurization system, and high propellant mass fraction tanks which can be scaled to meet mission-specific needs. Curie is an additively manufactured, pressure-fed engine with flight heritage across more than a dozen orbital missions. It is a storable, re-startable, bipropellant liquid propellant engine integrated with lightweight composite propellant tanks and valves into a single compact module.
To put in perspective how different this system is from a regular Electron rocket, the company points out that HASTE went from idea to launch within 12 months. This suggests that even with Rocket Lab working quickly, there are not any major changes but rather specific alterations. The fairings for example are very unique in order to offer the highest number of launch configurations. HASTE is also operated solely from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Flight test conditions are critical for hypersonic and suborbital testing. HASTE is a liquid launch vehicle with deep-throttle capability and a third stage with attitude control that provides flight trajectories with payload release conditions tailored to the mission. With the recent mission complete and successful, we can expect more missions in the near future.
HASTE System & Customers
HASTE won’t be operated under the general Rocket Lab company but instead under Rocket Lab National Security (RLNS), the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary created to serve the unique needs of the U.S. defense and intelligence community and its allies.
The Senior Director of Global Launch Services gave some insight into this system in a quote highlighting, “Rocket Lab has a strong track record of delivering tailored and reliable space capabilities for the civil space and national security communities across launch and space systems and HASTE is an extension of this. Hypersonic and suborbital test capabilities are key priorities for the nation, yet the DoD’s ability to test these systems has been limited. With HASTE, we’ve taken a proven vehicle in Electron and tailored it specifically to deliver highly capable, frequent, and cost-effective hypersonic and suborbital test opportunities from our existing launch site in Virginia” he said.
As far as whos buying this service and whats the demand like, Rocket Lab has a few signed customers who are very interested in using this new technology. For example, Rocket Lab was selected by Dynetics to provide hypersonic test launch capability under the Multiservice Advanced Capability Test Bed (MACH-TB) project awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane division on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense. Specifically, MACH-TB supports hypersonic programs by creating opportunities to test technologies with robust, agile and modular approaches. It will demonstrate ways to affordably prototype a test bed that leverages multiple, commercially-available launch vehicles for hypersonic payloads. The data collected will provide insight to the DoD on technology improvement and capability validation. This will enable more robust and successful developments of hypersonic weapon systems. Additionally, MACH-TB will provide a modular Experimental Glide Body (EGB) to create opportunities for technologies to be tested in relevant hypersonic environments to inform acquisition decisions for weapon systems.
“Hypersonics are a top priority for our nation, and we’re honored to be a part of this innovative and vital initiative,” said Leidos’ Dynetics Group President Steve Cook. This hypersonics flight test bed will bring to fruition a centralized hypersonic testing capability that can be leveraged by Navy Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS), Army Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Air Force hypersonics programs, DoD research programs, small businesses, industry, and academia stakeholders. This program was initiated by the Navy’s CPS Program and will be managed by OSD’s Test Resources Management Center (TRMC) and executed by NSWC Crane.
Separately, Rocket Lab has also been selected by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to prototype hypersonic launch capability on HASTE under the agency’s hypersonic and high-cadence testing capabilities (HyCAT) program, which aims to increase the cadence of hypersonic testing at a decreased cost of traditional flight tests. Under the initiative, Rocket Lab will explore the integration of scramjet-powered payloads, including the DART AE (Additive Engineering) vehicle developed by Australian company Hypersonix Launch Systems. This continues DIU and Rocket Lab’s partnership, which started under the Space Systems Command Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (SSC-RALI) effort in 2018, providing rapid and agile launch capabilities to the DoD. Due to the prototype’s success, any DoD organization can utilize DIU’s Solutions Catalog to procure launch services from Rocket Lab.
To stress the demand and interest in this new system, Rocket Lab was also selected by Missile Defense Agency Targets and Countermeasures (MDA/TC) to conduct a now-completed study to evaluate a variety of payloads on HASTE, setting the stage for future test flight opportunities. These program awards highlight the versatility of HASTE in providing tailorable trajectories and aerodynamic test regimes.
Based on all these customers, it’s clear that Rocket Lab’s new HASTE system has plenty of buyers now and likely more in the future. The question is whether or not the new suborbital method will work well with the electron variant going forward. For months now Rocket Lab has been working to improve and alter the base Electron rocket in other ways. For example, back in April, we learned more about Rocket Lab’s Electron reentry testing and reusability plans. All in an effort to improve the system and save both money and time.
Conclusion
Rocket Lab just launched the first suborbital Electron variant and the mission was a success. Now the company is going to make more of these rockets as the HASTE program already has a list of customers and contracts. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.