Engine Failures Doomed ABL, Virgin Orbit Launches

A couple of updates on the launch failures this week.

ABL Space reports that all nine E2 engines on the RS1 rocket’s first stage failed simultaneously shortly after liftoff from the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska on Tuesday. The rocket fell back on its launch pad and exploded, resulting in significant damage but no injuries, the company said.

ABL did not provide any information on why all nine engines quit all at once on RS1’s maiden flight. The company is continuing to investigate. Two satellites were lost.

RS1 is designed to launch 1,350 kg (2,976 lb) to low Earth orbit (LEO).

Twenty-four hours earlier, Virgin Orbit suffered a launch failure of its LauncherOne rocket after the second stage shut down prematurely. The company said:

Later in the mission, at an altitude of approximately 180 km [112 miles], the upper stage experienced an anomaly. This anomaly prematurely ended the first burn of the upper stage. This event ended the mission, with the rocket components and payload falling back to Earth within the approved safety corridor without ever achieving orbit.

Virgin Orbit did not provide information about why the Newton 4 engine shut down early. Nor did it explain why the company tweeted that the second stage had entered orbit, only to correct its statement less than a half hour later. Nine satellites were lost in the accident.

Virgin Orbit has initiated a formal investigation into the source of the second stage failure, to be led by Jim Sponnick (Co-Investigator), a distinguished aerospace veteran who was instrumental in the development and operations of the Atlas II, III and V launch systems and operations of the Delta II and IV launch systems and Chad Foerster (Principal Investigator), Virgin Orbit’s Chief Engineer and Vice President of Technology Development. An extensive fault analysis and investigation and completion of all required corrective actions identified during the investigation will be completed prior to the next flight.

Virgin Orbit’s failed mission originated from Spaceport Cornwall in England. LauncherOne was dropped over the Atlantic Ocean by a modified Boeing 747 named Cosmic Girl.

Virgin Orbit said Cosmic Girl will be returning to its main operating base at the Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field in California. The company said it is continuing to process its next launch, which will originate from the desert spaceport.

LauncherOne is a two-stage, liquid fuel rocket designed to launch 500 kg (1,102 lb) to LEO and 300 kg (661 lb) to sun-synchronous orbit.

Four launches have failed over the past month. On Dec. 14, LandSpace’s Zhuque-2 rocket failed on its maiden launch when the vernier engines on the second stage shut down earlier than planned. The Chinese company was attempting to launch the first rocket powered by liquid oxygen and methane. The failure destroyed 14 satellites.

A week later, Europe’s Vega-C rocket failed when its second stage suffered a loss of pressure. Airbus Defence and Space’s Pléiades Neo 5 and Pléiades Neo 6 Earth observation satellites were lost in the accident.