![]() ![]() In Rocket Lab’s case, they modified the platform into what they coined “Pegasus” on the Electron rocket. NAFTU - which received FAA certification for the launch - is a generic software package that companies can customize for their systems, Pierce said. “We estimate that this could reduce launch range costs by as much as 30 percent at our range.” “The NAFTU system is going to enable launch companies, the venture class, smaller launch companies, to come Wallops and be able to launch at an increased cadence, but also enable lower cost launch operations,” he said. “It has been nothing short of a Herculean effort to get us to this point, which I view as a turning point in launch range operations - not just at Wallops, but across the United States,” he said. In conjunction with Kennedy Space Center, the Space Force and the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA developed NAFTU to pull in GPS data to determine if a vehicle is off course and then automatically terminate the flight if needed. The technology has been in development and tested on sounding rockets and expendable launch vehicles in a test capacity, he said. ![]() “We’ve been working on autonomous flight safety systems since around 2002, with the vision from the DoD that this would provide for increased access to space, responsive space, while also lowering the cost of launch operations,” he said. facilities use autonomous termination systems by 2025, said David Pierce, director of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The technology is critical for several reasons, not the least of which is that the Defense Department is requiring all space launches from U.S. 23.Īt the heart of the launch is a new technology designed to improve safety and reduce cost: NASA’s Autonomous Flight Termination Unit, or NAFTU. As of press time, the launch was scheduled for Jan. The inaugural launch was scheduled for December, but it missed several windows due to weather. facility will allow for increased launch tempo and different trajectories, Beck said. Rocket Lab has conducted 32 launches of the 59-foot, reusable Electron at its Complex 1 in New Zealand, and the U.S. … And it’s a new rocket to Virginia and to the Wallops Flight Facility.” “It’s a standing up of a new capability for the nation. “This flight just doesn’t symbolize another launchpad for Rocket Lab,” said CEO Peter Beck during a conference call with reporters prior to the launch. launch of New Zealand-based Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from its new Launch Complex 2 at NASA’s Wallops Island, Virginia, facility. The mission, titled “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” will consist of the first U.S. From a distance, the upcoming launch in Virginia will look like any other craft blasting into space, but the technology on board the vehicle and the location will be firsts for the United States. ![]()
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