Small satellites launch service provider Rocket Lab has secured approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume launches of Electron.
Earlier last month, the firm’s Electron mission failed to reach orbit after experiencing a problem mid-flight after nearly four minutes into the flight.
The FAA approval follows after Rocket Lab identified an anomalous electrical connection that caused an in-flight failure.
Following the failure, the firm’s accident investigation board (AIB) and the FAA worked to discover the anomaly.
The collaboration, which reviewed more than 25,000 channels of data, as well as extensive testing, found an electrical connection problem to be the cause of launch failure.
The connection increases resistance thereby causing heat and thermal expansion in the electrical component.
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By GlobalDataRocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said: “Our team has now reliably replicated the issue in test and identified that it can be mitigated through additional testing and procedures.
“It’s a testament to Electron’s track record of reliability that the FAA has approved us for return to flight already.
“Electron was the fourth most frequently launched rocket in the world last year and prior to the anomaly, we had deployed 53 customer payloads to orbit without fail.
“Returning to the pad with an even more reliable vehicle for our mission partners is our top priority.”
Rocket Lab will resume the launch from Launch Complex 1 Pad A on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula.
Additional information regarding the launch window and customer will be provided over the next few days.
In February, Nasa selected Rocket Lab for a $9.95m firm-fixed-price launch contract, to launch the 55lb CubeSat onboard its Electron rocket from Nasa’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
