Watch Rocket Lab attempt to recover an Electron Rocket!

Rocket Lab is preparing for its Love At First Insight mission that will launch from Launch Complex-1A, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand. On the Love At First Insight mission, Electron will carry two Earth-observation microsatellites for BlackSky’s constellation into a 430 km low Earth orbit (LEO) at 42° inclination. Moreover, this mission will mark the third planned ocean splashdown recovery attempt of the company and the first time when a helicopter will be involved in the recovery process by observing Electron’s descent.

Need to know more information? Check out our Prelaunch Preview -

00:00 - Intro
03:00 - Prelaunch Preview
11:15 - Q&A
37:25 - T - 1 minute
38:25 - Lift Off
41:00 - Stage Separation
48:40 - SECO
52:20 - Coast Phase / Q&A
1:32:00 - Payload Deploys
1:35:10 - Q&A

-------------------

The best place for all your space merch needs!

[EverydayAstronaut]

It should be noted that the recovery was successful after splashdown exactly as intended. Unfortunately the live feed from the helicopter didn’t work out, so sorry that we didn’t get to watch it live.

[Sinned]

How awesome of a feeling it must be to have your own music to be played in a livestream of a spaceflight company 😁

[desmond-hawkins]

50:19 Wow, I did not expect to hear Tim's music being played on the Rocket Lab stream itself! Congrats!

[vicroc]

I love how Rocketlab is going with the tried-and-true method of recovering things from space - grabbing it out of the air with an aircraft. Real 1960s hours here.

[Ben_Gunner]

Everyday Astronaut is by far the best Channel out there for this content. Looking forward to your up coming indepth video.

[wdavidwoods]

Re. "antigeysering". I'm familiar with the Saturn V so will discuss that. In the S-IC first stage prior to launch, helium was bubbled through two of the long LOX ducts that led through the fuel tank. This had the effect of starting a flow of LOX up those two ducts and therefore down the other three ducts. This constant LOX flow had the effect of constantly replenishing the cold LOX within the ducts and therefore inhibiting the formation of gaseous oxygen (GOX) bubbles on the duct walls as heat leaked in from the kerosene fuel tank. If GOX bubbles were to be allowed to excessively form in the ducts, then at some point one would detach, join with other bubbles and form an ever growing bubble that would suddenly erupt at the surface of the LOX in the tank. This is the same mechanism at work on a volcanic geyser (like that at Geysir in Iceland, where the name comes from) except LOX is substituted for water and GOX is substituted for water vapour.

[drewhoylman]

Thanks for what you do! Always informative while being entertaining. I’ve learned so much watching. Appreciate you!

[High_Alpha]

I love how there are cows in the paddock next door... and almost a stampede when they launch as a couple hundred cattle run away from the really loud scary sound! I hope that fence is REAL strong on the other side!

[ziggyinta]

Thanks Tim for another positive evening!

Much love from New Zealand!

[mrtank]

Love your energy my friend. Your love for spaces is infectious. Hope make it there one day.

[j.jasonwentworth]

Wear a red shirt--during Project Vanguard, after so many failures, they were willing to try everything (a St. Christopher medal wired into the guidance system, a horseshoe spat upon and thrown over the shoulder on the beach [then to be found and kissed afterward, to "lock in" the luck], and someone remembered that at White Sands, where the Viking sounding rockets [which Vanguard's first stage was developed from] were fired, there were always a lot of red shirts worn in the blockhouse when Viking launches succeeded). So they did all of those things, and deliberately set the launch date for St. Patrick's Day--and Vanguard I is the oldest artificial satellite, which also led to the discovery that the Earth is slightly pear-shaped. Luck? Why not court it when you can?

[patemblen]

Another reason to love the Kiwis! Can't wait till Australia catches up.

[mendelscot]

Easily one of the most beautiful launch locations in the world.

[zagabog]

You are curating the history of space, and the future history of space, this is important work.

[kzinty]

The glow of that 2nd stage is unique, very uniform colour. There design is very different than the competition.

[johnburr]

I've been missing that distinct Rutherford sound. Sorry I couldn't watch live. Still impressed with all your work. Keep going Tim. You got 'dis.

[fstpassat]

Answer to your comment about the nozzle extension for the second stage. It is made from C103 Columbium. It is mostly Niobium, with alloying elements of Hafnium and Titanium. My company makes rocket nozzle extensions for customers like Rocket Lab, Aerojet, Intuitive, etc from this material.

[kynnmaster_]

1:42:24 Thanks for the response Everyday Astronaut! Don't worry, I will credit you when I will use your music. I like crediting
people's work though so that just in case, I will not get copyrighted and I can give support to the owner too! And BTW, I really like your videos! I have really learned too much about Rocket Science though because of you! I started learning those things HERE! You helped me in many things. That's why I like playing SFS too much now! And now, I need your cool music! God bless and Thank you once again!

[jewellcarpenter]

That video will be epic, don't think otherwise and uploaded it when you feel like it!

[kenhelmers]

Great to see you do a Live show again :) Take care