00:0010, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
00:16It's time.
00:25Maybe you can be trapped.
00:38Maybe you can be trapped in a way to the Earth.
00:42Stage 1 propulsion nominal.
00:45Electron is on its way to orbit for the lightning god defend, now more than 3km above Earth and
00:51travelling at speeds of over 700km per hour, which means we are fast approaching our first
00:57major milestone called Max-Q or Maximum Aerodynamic Pressure.
01:02Now Max-Q is important because it's the point of the greatest structural stress and so we
01:07should hear that moment and confirmation from Mission Control shortly.
01:25Cleared, Max-Q.
01:29And there it is, Max-Q cleared.
01:32Electron is now travelling at more than 2,000km an hour and climbing steadily.
01:37Next, we're entering a dynamic phase of the flight with three rapid milestones, main engine
01:42cut-off or MECO, state separation and second stage engine ignition.
01:47First, the nine Rutherford engines on the first stage will slow down and shut off completely,
01:52and within seconds the first stage will separate and the second stage's Rutherford engine will
01:57ignite to continue the journey to orbit.
02:00Listen closely for the sound of the Rutherford engine fuel pumps winding up for ignition.
02:05This is scheduled to happen around T plus 2 minutes and 30 seconds into flight.
02:10Roughly 30 seconds.
02:2215 seconds to staging.
02:26Entered Burnout Detect Mode.
02:39MECO Confirmed.
02:41MECO Confirmed.
02:45Stage Separation Confirmed.
02:49Stage 2 Ignition Confirmed.
02:53And there we have it, confirmation of MECO stage separation and a successful ignition
02:59of that second stage engine.
03:01It's firing as we expect and propelling our mission closer to orbit at a speed of over
03:078,000km per hour.
03:10Now you can see the satellite housed inside Electron's fairing on your right there.
03:15It's sitting atop the kick stage.
03:16The fairing that's over the top of it is protecting the satellite from the intense friction of the
03:21upper atmosphere, but it won't be needed for much longer.
03:24So soon it will separate and fall away.
03:26And we're standing by now for confirmation of that from Mission Control.
03:44HVB Discharge Holding Nominal.
03:52Fairing Jettison Confirmed.
03:57Stage 2 Propulsion Nominal.
04:07Alright, might have had a camera issue there, but we have had confirmation that the fairing
04:11has successfully jettisoned.
04:13And right now we are at more than 4 minutes into flight with under 6 minutes left in the
04:18second stage burn.
04:19Take care.
04:44That's right, let's take care of it.
04:57Stage 2, propulsion holding nominal.
05:26Stage 2, propulsion holding.
05:29They need more battery power to keep the engine running.
05:32But like any battery, they eventually drain and need to be replaced, and that's where
05:37the battery hot swap comes in.
05:39This manoeuvre is a critical step in the second stage's journey to orbit.
05:43It involves switching from the depleted batteries to a fresh set without missing a beat.
05:47You can actually see the silver rectangular battery packs on your screen right now.
05:52During the hot swap, the pack in the bottom right corner will disconnect and fall away
05:56from the vehicle.
05:57That will be our visual confirmation that the hot swap was successful.
06:01So let's listen in now for the call out from Mission Control.
06:09HVB discharge holding nominal.
06:11Approaching hot swap in roughly 30 seconds.
06:24Approaching down.
06:25Tracking down.
06:41battery jettison confirmed
06:46confirm hot swap successful
06:50excellent battery hot swap confirmed and the second stage engine is performing
06:55nominally and we're checking off these final milestones of this phase of this mission
07:00but next up we'll be looking for seco second engine cutoff and the separation of the kickstage
07:06and this process is similar to what we saw earlier with the first and second stages
07:10but instead of the main engine shutting down it will be that second stage engine
07:14once the kickstage separates it will carry the IQPS satellite into its transfer orbit
07:20this elliptical orbit is designed to bring the kickstage to the altitude of its final
07:25circular orbit at 575 kilometers above earth that journey will take about 40 minutes
07:32when the kickstage reaches its target its curie engine will ignite to perform the final maneuver
07:37needed to circularize the orbit but before we get there we still need to complete seco
07:42and the separation of the kickstage from that second stage and that is coming up in just a
07:46few moments so let's listen in for those call outs
07:50so
07:51so
07:59so
08:04so
08:22we've just passed eight minutes into flight now coming up on stage two separation and we can see
08:27that we're performing nominally on our way to orbit with a speed of more than 22 000 kilometers per hour
08:33now above 263 kilometers above earth
08:43cadence is in terminal 20 seconds remaining
08:47—
08:47—
08:47—
08:47—
08:47—
08:47—
09:10SICO confirmed.
09:13Stage separation confirmed.
09:14Nominal transfer orbit achieved.
