Electron fails during Capella Space launch

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Electron fails during Capella Space launch

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A Rocket Lab Electron failed during a launch of Capella Space radar imaging satellite Sept. 19.

The Electron lifted off at 2:55 a.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand after a delay of about 20 minutes because of space weather conditions. The liftoff and ascent of the first stage appeared to go as expected, with “nominal” calls by controllers up until stage separation.

Live video from the second stage, though, was lost right after separation, when the single Rutherford engine ignited. Telemetry displayed on the webcast for several seconds after stage separation showed the vehicle’s velocity decreasing, suggesting the engine had malfunctioned in some way.

Read More: SpaceNews