New NASA safety system enables Rocket Lab launch from Wallops

A revolutionary NASA flight security system has enabled a brand new period of space transportation with the profitable flight of Rocket Lab U.S.’s Electron rocket Jan. 24, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

This mission, the primary Electron launch from america, was enabled by NASA’s work in growing the NASA Autonomous Flight Termination Unit (NAFTU), a important piece of flight safety know-how required for this mission. Tuesday’s launch was the first-ever flight of the NAFTU flight security system.

With NASA offering command and management of the Wallops Launch Vary, Electron launched at 6 p.m. EST, Jan. 24, from the corporate’s Launch Complicated-2 inside Virginia Area’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on NASA’s Wallops Island.

“In taking NAFTU throughout the end line, NASA has delivered an autonomous flight termination system like no different in operation right this moment filling a important hole in modernizing our nation’s launch ranges,” mentioned David L. Pierce, Wallops Flight Facility director. “We’re proud to have made this and future U.S. Rocket Lab Electron launches attainable with our game-changing flight security know-how.”

Whereas different, proprietary autonomous flight termination methods are in use right this moment, NAFTU is completely different in that it was designed for use by any launch supplier in any respect U.S. launch ranges to make sure public safety throughout launch operations. Up to now, 18 corporations have requested the NAFTU software program by NASA’s know-how switch course of. Rocket Lab was among the many first candidates for the software program, enabling their launch from Wallops.

Making certain public security is the first mandate of any launch vary. Launches flying with out automated flight security methods depend on vary security officers to watch all phases of rocket flight utilizing ground-based monitoring and telemetry belongings. If the rocket flies off target, the vary security officers ship instructions to terminate flight. Launch security plans have to compensate for human response time.

In distinction, an automatic flight security system, akin to NAFTU, is an unbiased, self-contained flight termination system mounted on a rocket to make real-time flight termination selections autonomously. This real-time decision-making functionality supplies many advantages, akin to wider launch home windows and smaller downrange security corridors for boats and plane. As well as, for the reason that unit is self-contained and mounted on the rocket, there’s a considerably lowered want for ground-based monitoring and telemetry methods, which reduces general operations and upkeep prices. These financial savings are, in-turn, handed on to launch suppliers.

“Launch tempos are growing in any respect our nation’s launch ranges, whereas ground-based belongings required for launch are getting more and more costly to take care of,” mentioned Pierce. “Many of those points are mitigated by the advantages of autonomous flight security methods like NAFTU.”

Wallops, in collaboration with NASA Headquarters, NASA’s Kennedy Area Middle, the U.S. Air Power and Area Power, in addition to the Federal Aviation Administration, started improvement of NAFTU in 2020, when this system turned absolutely funded. Provisional certification of the unit was granted for Rocket Lab’s first U.S. Electron mission and full certification is predicted by Jan. 31, 2023.