Tag: Electron
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Ten satellites set to ride into orbit with Rocket Lab
Canon’s CE-SAT-2B Earth-imaging satellite and 10 SuperDove remote sensing CubeSats from Planet are set for launch on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. Credit: Rocket Lab Ten commercial Earth-imaging satellites are mounted on top of a Rocket Lab Electron launcher for liftoff Wednesday from New Zealand. The nearly 60-foot-tall (18-meter) Electron rocket is scheduled to take off…
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Radar imagery released from Capella’s Sequoia satellite
This image of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai was captured by Capella’s Sequoia radar satellite. Credit: Capella Space Capella Space has released the first images from its Sequoia radar remote sensing spacecraft, a commercial imaging platform that launched in August as the first of a constellation that could number 36 radar observation satellites. The roughly 220-pound…
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Hints of life renew interest in Venus, and a private mission could lead the way
A synthesized false color image of Venus, using 283-nm and 365-nm band images taken by the Venus Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) on Japan’s Akatsuki orbiter. Credit: JAXA / ISAS / Akatsuki Project Team The announcement Monday of the discovery of phosphine gas in the clouds of Venus — an indicator of possible life — has raised…
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Rocket Lab Debuts Photon Satellite
Rocket Lab has announced that the kick stage used on their 14th Electron launch, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical,” was transitioned into satellite mode after payload deployment. This is the first Photon satellite to fly, named “First Light.” The technology demonstration tested the spacecraft systems needed to enable new missions to Earth orbit, the…
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Rocket Lab Returns To Flight with Electron’s 14th mission
Rocket Lab’s Electron smallsat launch vehicle successfully Returned To Flight with a mission nicknamed “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical”. This was the company’s first launch following an anomaly on the “Pics or it Didn’t Happen” flight that led to that mission’s failure. For its 14th flight, Electron carried Capella Space’s “Sequoia” microsatellite to a…
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Electron fails during 13th launch
Nearly three weeks after the last flight of Rocket Lab’s workhorse Electron rocket, the California-based company performed the most rapid turnaround between launches to date with the launch of Electron Flight 13. However, the rocket failed during second stage flight. The mission – which featured seven small satellites as the payload – launched from Rocket…
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U.S. military to award smallsat launch contracts using COVID-19 relief funds
Astra’s first orbital-class small satellite launcher, designated “1 of 3,” is raised vertical in this photo taken at a spaceport on Kodiak Island, Alaska, in February. Credit: DARPA The U.S. military said this week it plans to award rideshare small satellite launch contracts to six U.S. companies using funds appropriated to help stabilize the defense…
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University-built CubeSat launched with swarm of auroral science nodes
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket climbs away from a launch base in New Zealand Saturday. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab successfully launched five small satellites from New Zealand Saturday for customers in the United States and Australia, including a CubeSat with a novel swarm of tiny magnetometers to measure the plasma currents that shape colorful auroras.…
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Rocket Lab launches 12th Electron, continues work on future plans
After a several week stand-down due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Rocket Lab launched its 12th Electron mission to date—a rideshare mission with payloads from NASA, the NRO, and the University of New South Wales. Following a weather scrub earlier in the week, the mission launched from Rocket Lab’s Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula…
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Live coverage: Rocket Lab back in action with twilight launch in New Zealand
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying payloads into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Rocket Lab’s live video…