Rocket Lab set for first operational Electron launch with five payload elements. With Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck confirming that It’s Business Time is on its seaside launch pad at the southern tip of the Māhia Peninsula on the Northern Island of New Zealand, the stage is set for the company’s first operational flight of its Electron rocket following two test flights, one in May 2017 and one earlier this year in January 2018.
The 7 hour countdown will commence at 05:30 NZST local time at the launch site on Saturday, 23 June, at which point Rocket Lab’s launch team will go on console at the Launch Control Center to monitor the final activities ahead of liftoff. All roads to the launch site will be closed at the T-6 hour mark; this will be followed by engineers lifting Electron vertical and fueling the rocket with RP-1 (rocket-grade) kerosene at T-4 hours and counting.
The launch pad will be evacuated of all personnel at T-2 hours 30 minutes, and loading of Electron with Liquid Oxygen (LOX) will commence at the T-2 hour mark. This will be followed at the T-1 hour mark with the commencement of the local aviation authority advising aircraft traffic of the launch and the launch hazard areas in an effort to prevent the range from becoming fouled by air traffic ahead of an anticipated on-time lift off.