Failed launch was caused by rising liquid nitrogen temperatures, says Rocket Lab

December 13, 2017

Rocket Lab has investigated their Electron test flight after their rocket failed to launch yesterday.

The launch was aborted after rising liquid nitrogen temperatures began feeding into one of the Electron's nine engines, causing the engine to shut down.

"The abort caused no damage to the vehicle or launchpad infrastructure, with the vehicle performing exactly as expected," Rocket Lab said in a statement.

The company's founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said the rocket's fast shutdown response worked as planned.

"Our team developed very advanced systems to prevent launch if any one of thousands of factors isn't perfectly aligned, and yesterday, we proved those systems are performing well," he said.

Rocket Lab has since fixed the temperature issue ahead of their next launch attempt.

The Electron's second launch attempt is expected to take place after 2.30pm tomorrow.  

SHARE ME

More Stories