Rocket Lab’s 13th launch unlucky

AUCKLAND: Every rocket has a failure at some point and this probably ‘‘hurts our pride more than anything’’, Rocket Lab cofounder and chief executive Peter Beck said of yesterday’s mission failure — the company’s first after 12 successful flights.

The good news is noone was hurt — the rocket burned up on reentering the atmosphere on a safe trajectory after an anomaly occurred in latestage flight after takeoff from the Mahia Peninsula launch pad yesterday morning.

And while the financial cost of the rocket and the hightech payload on board is significant, customers are expected to be insured for the incident.

Talking to the media a few hours after the Electron rocket failed to reach orbit, Mr Beck said it was a tough day for the company and its staff.

‘‘I am deeply sorry for the loss of the rocket and the payload for our customers. However, we will leave no stone unturned to figure out what happened today so we can learn from it and get back to the pad as soon as possible.

‘‘This is something that we always prepare for but never want to experience but we have lots of vehicles in production and we are ready for rapid return to flight as soon as these investigations are complete.’’

Asked who would bear the cost of the loss, Mr Beck said payload customers typically had insurance in place for these kinds of events. The rocket launch itself, not including the satellite equipment on board, started at $US7.5 million ($NZ11.5 million).

The primary payload for the launch was a 67kg imaging satellite built by Canon Electronics, whose launch was arranged by Spaceflight Inc.

The satellite, capable of taking images with a resolution of 90cm, was intended to demonstrate the spacecraft’s technologies as the company prepared mass production of similar satellites.

The mission, named ‘‘Pics Or It Didn’t Happen’’, also included five shoeboxsized Earth observation satellites, for San Francisco company Planet, designed to take images of Earth from above.

Asked how significant a setback it was, Beck remained optimistic.

‘‘We were the fourth most launched rocket in the world last year and this is something we always prepared for. Every rocket has a failure at some point, so this probably hurts our pride a lot more than anything.

‘‘But this doesn’t really affect our business or viability thereof in any way.’’

Rocket Lab has put 53 spacecraft into lowEarth orbit on 12 separate missions and yesterday’s launch was its third this year. — The New Zealand Herald