ELECTRON ROCKET LAUNCH - The Lightning God Defends (iQPS Launch 8)
Video from the channel Cortes do Space Orbit about Electron, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 10:39. Language: Portuguese. Video type: Launch.
The mission
Clip from the Space Orbit channel's Portuguese-commentated broadcast of a Rocket Lab Electron launch from New Zealand on the "The Lightning God Defends" mission (iQPS Launch 8). The payload is a synthetic aperture radar satellite for iQPS, a company that has already launched several satellites with Rocket Lab, bound for low Earth orbit.
Sequence
At 40 seconds the rocket is flying at about 600 km/h and 3 km of altitude, and passes max dynamic pressure around 1,500 km/h and 12 km. The first stage shuts down at about 7,900 km/h; it separates and the second stage's Rutherford engine ignites. Telemetry confirms fairing separation, although the camera feed freezes. The rocket then jettisons two of its three batteries, already spent. The commentator notes that this Electron is fully expendable: no part is recovered.
Outcome
The second stage shuts down at around 26,900 km/h and reaches the planned orbit. A roughly fifty-minute coast phase for the Kick Stage follows, before it fires its engine and releases the satellite. The video ends before that point.