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You can see at this point in this launch video at the 52:26 mark, that the rocket is now rising after dipping down.

Why did the rocket dip down?

I understand very little about the slingshot mechanisms that rockets can utilize... but with what little I know, I thought that would be only beneficial if the rocket were already approaching from far away (rather than having to expend fuel to get away first). Would it not have been more fuel efficient to have a trajectory without the dip? Were there any other reasons (apart from fuel efficiency) for the dip?

Jug
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Speculation only:

Playing Kerbal Space Program I have seen such a dip many times. It normally means the upper stage doesn't have enough engine thrust and the mission will be a failure. However, if the thrust is almost enough I have pulled it off successfully, the rocket builds enough speed while falling back that it stays out of the atmosphere.

I think that's what happened here--given how long that upper stage burned it must have been a fairly small engine. Doing it this way let them get away with a bit smaller engine.

Loren Pechtel
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