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RocketLab Discussion Thread


Kryten

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So if all goes to plan, they can undercut many future competitors, including Starship (launching as a non-rideshare for small sats), basically everything except for the extremely light launchers. This is good for ensuring future market share.

Assuming it works, of course. I'm curious as to how they hope to keep it super stable without any form of control. Passive stability seems like a bit much to expect from Electron, but then again I am not the rocket scientist, those guys are.

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31 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

I'm curious as to how they hope to keep it super stable without any form of control. Passive stability seems like a bit much to expect from Electron, but then again I am not the rocket scientist, those guys are.

If the great majority of the mass is in the bottom with the engines, with an object so small it might act like a dart even without any control surfaces. Falcon 9 is like a skyscraper and has high inertia. Electron is like a...smaller building...( :P ) and would be easier to push around by the air itself. They've already gathered some data, so presumably they think it would settle in this orientation, or at least could be made to.

Edited by cubinator
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19 minutes ago, cubinator said:

If the great majority of the mass is in the bottom with the engines, with an object so small it might act like a dart even without any control surfaces. Falcon 9 is like a skyscraper and has high inertia. Electron is like a...smaller building...( :P ) and would be easier to push around by the air itself. They've already gathered some data, so presumably they think it would settle in this orientation.

True, I had realized this, but given the uncontrolled nature it would swing around quite a bit before it settled tail first (especially considering it separates nose first). I am not sure what happens first, the aerodynamic forces necessary to keep it straight or the heating required to melt it if it's not straight.

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3 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

True, I had realized this, but given the uncontrolled nature it would swing around quite a bit before it settled tail first (especially considering it separates nose first). I am not sure what happens first, the aerodynamic forces necessary to keep it straight or the heating required to melt it if it's not straight.

They will need to turn the rocket around anyway; in the animation it looked like they won't do any extra burns but it will have to enter tail first while still moving prograde. My guess is they would use a cold gas thruster system to point it in the right orientation, then basically not have to do anything after that.

Also, IIRC small things get slowed down faster by atmosphere, so heating may be much less of a concern than for F9.

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I wonder how far south the typical catch zone will be for a sun synchronous launch? If there's no boost back involved then somewhere in the southern ocean roughly between Wellington & Christchurch? Mahia peninsula is already on the fringe of the roaring 40's, and a number of Rocketlab launches have experienced weather delays so far. The chopper pilots will be earning their pay trying to catch a spent rocket in a 50 knot westerly.

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