File photo. The Electron rocket at the launch site on the Māhia Peninsula. Photo: Supplied / Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab has paused its scheduled missions after its latest launch failed.
The company said its Electron rocket completed a first stage burn and stage separation after the launch from its facility on the Māhia Peninsula.
However it experienced "an issue" about 2 minutes 30 seconds into flight, a spokesperson said.
The launch was for US commercial radar imagery provider Capella Space.
Rocket Lab apologised to the company for the loss of its mission and was working with the FAA and supporting agencies as it investigated the cause, it said.
Its next mission, currently scheduled before the end of the third quarter, would be postponed while it implemented "corrective actions".
The company indicated a financial impact with the statement saying it anticipated providing revised third quarter revenue guidance in the coming days.
Tough day. My deepest apologies to our mission partners Capella Space. Team is already working on root cause. We’ll find it, fix it and be back on the pad quickly. https://t.co/1SlkP1JgsQ
— Peter Beck (@Peter_J_Beck) September 19, 2023
The Electron rocket had previously delivered 171 satellites to orbit across 37 successful orbital missions, a spokesperson said.
Loss 'they can come back from'
University of Auckland physics professor Richard Easther said it appeared the second stage of the launch, which would have carried the payload into orbit, failed to ignite.
The three other failures had involved second stage in some way, but not necessarily with the same problem, he said.
"It's important to remember that in their niche - what they call small launch - they're far and away ahead of their competition."
Up to 100 other companies have said they were trying to do that and only about 10 had made serious attempts at it.
"So they do have a long lead but on the other hand ... they are at a stage in the development when they would hope the Electron vehicle would be more mature at this point."
"It's not a loss that they would have wanted to have but it's also one they can come back from."
Capella Space launches many satellites and a common strategy for such companies was to have a 'constellation of satellites' in orbit, so the launch failure would not involve the loss of their only satellite, he said.
Individual satellites would be valued at millions of dollars and Capella Space would have had a contingency for the loss.
On 4 July 2020 the Electron rocket shut down and the seven satellites on board were lost. During the the second stage burn the engine shut down because of a faulty electrical connection, Rocket Lab said.
Its maiden flight in New Zealand in 2017 failed due to a computer glitch, after the rocket reached a height of 224 kilometres.
