Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1

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Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 (September 2016)

Coordinates: 39 ° 15 ′ 39.2 ″  S , 177 ° 51 ′ 55.8 ″  E

Map: New Zealand
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Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1​
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New Zealand

Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 is a private rocket launch site for the Electron launcher in New Zealand . The operator is Rocket Lab , which also produces the electron rockets. Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 is the first and so far the only private rocket launch site from which it was possible to reach Earth orbit.

location

The launch site is on a cliff on the Mahia Peninsula in the Wairoa District on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island .

Facilities

The site includes the launch pad for an electron rocket, a hangar, and storage tanks for liquid oxygen and kerosene . A second launch pad (LC-1B) has been under construction since the end of 2019.

Rocket Lab states that in future, Mahia could theoretically start every 72 hours.

history

The Rocket Lab company not only manufactures the electron rocket, but also markets their launches. In addition to renting existing launch sites in the USA, it was also planned to set up a dedicated launch site so that the expected number of launches could be carried out. Six locations in New Zealand were shortlisted.

In 2015 the plan was to set up the launch site at Kaitorete Spit near Lake Ellesmere on the South Island of New Zealand. This was announced on July 1st and commissioning was planned for the end of 2015. This is where NASA launched Arcas high-altitude research rockets in 1962 and 1963 . However, Kaitorete Spit had the restriction that it could not take off to the east because the nearby Banks Peninsula would be flown over in the start phase . This would not allow orbits with a low orbit inclination, but mainly polar and sun-synchronous orbits that start to the south. The rockets were to be manufactured in nearby Christchurch . However, the approval process dragged on, so Rocket Lab looked for alternatives.

Rocket Labs supporters included New Zealand entrepreneur Michael Fay . A suborbital rocket of the Rocket Lab was launched from his private island Great Mercury Island in 2009. Via Fay, Rocket Lab became aware of a site that belonged to the Tawapata South Maori Incorporation and that was visited for the first time in April 2015. The negotiations with the local authorities went much more quickly and successfully. The groundbreaking ceremony in Mahia took place in December 2015. Among other things, Rocket Lab built 4 km of new roads and improved 30 km. The official opening took place on September 27, 2016.

The first launch took place on May 25, 2017. During the It's a test mission , the Electron reached space, but not a stable orbit. The second start under the name Still Testing was then successful on January 21, 2018.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rocket Lab: Our Launch Sites. Retrieved February 6, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Samantha Masunaga: Rocket Lab finishes launch complex in New Zealand. Los Angeles Times, September 26, 2016, accessed on February 2, 2018 (English): "The launch complex includes a hangar where the Electron rocket will be prepped for launch, a 50-ton launch platform and liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel-storage facilities "
  3. ↑ Rocket Lab starts work on second NZ launch pad . stuff.co.nz, December 22, 2019.
  4. ↑ Twitter message from Rocket Lab, February 5, 2020.
  5. ↑ Stephen Clark: Maiden flight of Rocket Lab's small satellite launcher reaches space. Spaceflight Now, May 25, 2017, accessed on January 29, 2018 (English): "Rocket Lab says it could theoretically launch once every 72 hours from the Mahia Peninsula base once commercial operations commence"
  6. ↑ a b c Jeff Froust: Rocket Lab Selects New Zealand Launch Site. Space News, July 1, 2015, accessed February 2, 2018 .
  7. ↑ a b Martin Van Beynen: Canty's Birdlings Flat on the back burner for Rocket Lab launch. Stuff, November 22, 2015, accessed March 9, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Birdling's Flat in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on March 9, 2018 (English).
  9. ↑ a b Jamie Morton: One small step for Mahia, one giant leap for NZ. New Zealand Herald, July 10, 2016, accessed March 11, 2018 .
  10. ^ Suzi Lewis: Rocket Lab planning all go at Mahia. Gisborne Herald, October 14, 2015, accessed March 11, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Victoria White: All set for lift off on Mahia Peninsula. New Zealand Herald, June 28, 2016, accessed March 9, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Victoria White: Rocket launch site officially opened. New Zealand Herald, September 28, 2016, accessed March 9, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Stephen Clark: Maiden flight of Rocket Lab's small satellite launcher reaches space. Spaceflight Now, May 25, 2017, accessed March 9, 2018 .

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