00:00 >> T-minus 20 seconds and counting.
00:15 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
00:35 [ Sound effects ]
01:04 >> HVB discharge is nominal.
01:07 [ Sound effects ]
01:14 >> Electron is soaring through the sky right now after lifting off from Pad B at Launch Complex 1,
01:20 now on its way to low Earth orbit for NASA and Tropics.
01:24 The first launch milestone the rocket will pass through is Max Q,
01:28 when the forces against Electron are at their peak as the rocket moves quickly through the atmosphere.
01:33 Mission Control is expected to call that out on the net shortly.
01:37 [ Sound effects ]
01:44 >> Cleared Max Q.
01:47 >> Great news there with Max Q and onward and upward for Electron.
01:50 It has only been about a minute since liftoff and already the rocket is at its speeds of over 2,000 kilometers an hour,
01:57 a mere fraction of the 27,000 plus kilometers an hour that is orbital velocity,
02:02 which will reach a head of payload deployment in the next 30 minutes or so.
02:06 Next though is the separation of the rocket between Stages 1 and 2.
02:10 For that to happen, we first need the nine Rutherford engines currently burning hot to shut down,
02:15 an action called Main Engine Cutoff or MECO.
02:19 Then a few moments later, Stages 1 and 2 will spring apart.
02:22 We'll hear that called out as stage separation.
02:25 Then the single space-optimized Rutherford engine on the second stage will light up and carry on with the Tropics mission.
02:32 Those milestones should be taking place at around T plus two and a half minutes.
02:36 [ Sound effects ]
02:48 >> Fifteen seconds to MECO.
02:50 >> Entered Burnout Detect Mode.
03:04 >> MECO confirmed.
03:10 >> Stage separation successful.
03:13 >> Stage signation.
03:15 >> Exactly as we expect, there goes MECO stage separation,
03:19 and we can now see that the Rutherford engine nozzle is glowing hot on the second stage.
03:24 The Tropics satellites remain in good health on the Electron,
03:27 and soon the rocket's onboard computer will command the fairing to separate and fall away.
03:31 Now that we're in the vacuum of space, Tropics doesn't need the protection of the fairing anymore,
03:35 so we get rid of that dead weight to maximize fuel efficiency on the way to orbit.
03:43 >> Fairing separation successful.
03:45 >> If you were looking at the screen at the right moment just there,
03:48 you will have seen those two nose cone halves falling away as planned with the fairing separation.
03:53 Electron is performing nominally on its way to orbit with a few minutes between now and our next mission milestone,
03:59 the battery hot swap for our second stage engine at around six minutes, 52 seconds into flight.
04:04 [ Sound effects ]
04:10 >> Guidance is nominal.
04:14 >> Stage separation is still nominal.
04:17 [ Sound effects ]
04:38 >> Electron and Tropics are moving at a good pace right now,
04:41 well over 8,000 kilometres an hour at the T plus four minute mark into the mission.
04:47 The vehicle is currently at 234 kilometres in altitude,
04:51 with another 300 or 350 so kilometres to go until we reach our 550 kilometre destination.
04:58 >> Getting there is only one part of the journey though,
05:01 as Tropics won't be released immediately at that 550 kilometre first touch.
05:06 Satellites will remain attached to the rocket's third stage
05:09 and complete a full loop of Earth before they can be deployed on their home orbit.
05:14 We'll explain that process in more detail later when we get closer to that point of the mission.
05:19 [ Sound effects ]
05:25 >> Stage two propulsion hold nominal.
05:28 [ Sound effects ]
05:34 >> A quick check of the dials on our screen tell us that all remains nominal for Electron and Tropics.
05:39 The rocket is moving steadily at more than 9,000 kilometres an hour
05:43 and we are inching closer to that 550 kilometre mark
05:46 now that Electron has passed more than 300 kilometres altitude.
05:50 To keep the mission running smoothly, we'll have another launch milestone coming up soon.
05:55 It is called the battery hot swap and it's essential to keeping our Rutherford engine
05:59 running all the way to the mission's altitude destination.
06:02 That action is due at around 6 minutes and 52 seconds in flight,
06:06 so in just another one minute or so.
06:10 [ Sound effects ]
06:29 >> Guidance is nominal, 200 seconds remaining.
06:34 >> What we call the battery hot swap manoeuvre is a unique action for our Electron rocket.
06:39 When the first two battery packs supplying power to our electropumps on stage two
06:43 are close to being drained, Electron switches to a fresh battery
06:47 that will ensure the Rutherford engine lasts the distance to orbit.
06:51 It's a move our rocket has performed countless times before, but it is a move unique to Electron.
06:56 Battery hot swap is on its way in just a few moments, so we'll bring up the mission control comms again
07:00 to listen out for the call.
07:02 [ Sound effects ]
07:14 >> Throttling down.
07:16 [ Sound effects ]
07:26 >> Hot swap successful.
07:28 [ Applause ]
07:31 >> Just as it was planned, the Rutherford has switched to its new power source
07:35 with the battery hot swap and is continuing nominally with the Tropics mission.
07:40 There are a few minutes left in the engine's burn time before the second stage
07:44 completes its final actions for the mission, shutting down Rutherford
07:48 and then separating from the third stage.
07:50 [ Sound effects ]
08:05 >> HVB discharge holding nominal.
08:07 [ Sound effects ]
08:14 >> How beautiful are some of these views from Electron?
08:17 This nominal Rutherford burn marks our 360th engine in space,
08:22 inching us closer to our 400th engine milestone, expected on our 40th Electron launch.
08:28 In fact, one of those engines to fly next will be an engine that we have already launched before.
08:34 We are taking the next major step in evolving Electron into a reusable rocket
08:39 by launching a pre-flown Rutherford engine on one of our missions later this year.
08:44 That engine, which flew on our There and Back Again mission in May 2022,
08:49 has undergone the same extensive testing and acceptance processes as any newly built engine
08:55 and has performed flawlessly throughout multiple full mission duration engine tests.
09:00 We are very excited to see that engine back on the pad soon.
09:03 But back to Tropics, and that second stage is performing well,
09:07 and the Tropics payload is healthy as both continue travelling at speeds of over 19,000 kilometers per hour.
09:14 [ Sound effects ]
09:24 >> Entered burnout detect mode.
09:26 [ Sound effects ]
09:28 >> All right, at T plus 8 minutes, 56 seconds into this mission for NASA,
09:32 and we are nearly in orbit.
09:34 In a few moments, we'll be able to see that red-hot engine nozzle there start to turn cold
09:39 once the engine on stage two shuts down.
09:42 >> Mission Control will call out these actions.
09:44 Listen out for "SECO confirmed" on the nets coming up shortly.
09:48 [ Silence ]
09:57 >> SECO confirmed.
09:59 [ Applause ]
10:02 >> There it is from Mission Control, met with a good cheer from our team.
10:06 SECO and stage separation confirmed.
10:08 That means our Kick Stage and Tropics satellites are now in their phasing orbit of Earth.
10:13 It's been a perfectly nominal mission so far, but Electron's work isn't quite done yet.
10:18 >> That's right. Tropics is a bit different to our usual launches.
10:21 For this mission, the second stage sending the Kick Stage directly into a circular orbit,
10:27 rather than the Kick Stage taking the satellites on its usual elliptical journey around Earth first.
10:33 Then, once the Kick Stage passes the equator at what is called the ascending node,
10:38 the Kick Stage's Curie engine lights up to change its inclination to end up in Tropics' desired orbit.
