Tag: Electron
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Rocket Lab launches 5th mission for Japanese Earth observation company, Synspective
Rocket Lab’s 51st Electron rocket stands at Pad B in Mahia, New Zealand, in preparation for the launch of the “Owl for One, Owl for All” mission. Image: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab launched its ninth mission of 2024 and its 51st Electron rocket launch to date. The flight sent an Earth observing satellite to low…
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Launch Roundup: Atlas V, Electron, CZ-3B/E, and Falcon 9 missions flying this week
As July turns into August, launch activity will pick up after Falcon 9’s return to flight. Besides the Falcon 9, ULA’s Atlas V and Rocket Lab’s Electron were also being prepared to fly missions to orbit. The USSF-51 flight from Florida was followed by a Chang Zheng-3B/E from China and the Starlink 10-6 flight. CRS…
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Falcon 9’s return to flight reminds spaceflight industry of past anomalies
Nearly every rocket that has flown has had an anomaly. With thousands of components that all need to work in perfect harmony to have a successful mission, there is likely to be one component that is unable to perform every once in a while. While witnessing an anomaly in spaceflight is not as improbable as…
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Rocket Lab successfully launches its 50th Electron rocket
A close-up shot of the nine Rutherford engines at the base of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The flight marked the 50th launch of Electron since its debut in 2017. Image: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab successfully reached a milestone that few commercial rockets achieved and at a pace that outperformed its competition. The company launched its…
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Launch Roundup: Electron launches for the 50th time; Falcon 9 returns to normal operations
Concluding a rare week that was void of any launches and riddled with scrubs, the spaceflight industry looks to return to the planned course of action with four launches from all over the world. This week, the 50th launch of Electron has taken flight, and SpaceX and CASC continue to dominate the launch calendar. SpaceX…
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Launch Roundup – Starship launches for fourth time, Starliner launches on third attempt, Virgin Galactic to fly VSS Unity for last time
There were two high-profile missions scheduled this week after a challenging weekend that saw the scrub of another attempt to launch the first crewed Starliner and the announcement that the dearMoon project is canceled. In more positive news, it also confirmed that Chang’e 6 landed on the moon’s far side. Starship was one of two…
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Rocket Lab launches first of NASA’s climate-monitoring PREFIRE spacecraft
The PREFIRE mission will launch the first of two CubeSats – depicted in this artist’s concept orbiting Earth – into space on Saturday, May 25, 2024, to study how much heat the planet absorbs and emits from its polar regions. These measurements will inform climate and ice models. Graphic: NASA/JPL-Caltech Update 4:36 a.m. EDT: Rocket…
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Launch Roundup: 100th launch of the year, Starliner delays, NASA’s PREFIRE-1 mission
There are two launches from China to start this week, the first of which will be the 95th launch attempt of the year worldwide. If all goes to plan, this week should see the 100th launch of 2024, although the schedule is rather fluid at present. SpaceX has already passed 50 launches this year and…
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New solar sail technology launches on Rocket Lab flight
A potential new way to travel through space launched aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 located on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission, named “Beginning of the Swarm,” put two payloads into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The flight lifted off at 22:32 UTC on April 23, 2024. One of the two payloads aboard…
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Rocket Lab launches NASA, Korean payloads on Electron flight
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft in orbit. Graphic: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart Rocket Lab completed its fifth launch of the year, which was a rideshare mission between the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and NASA. This was also the company’s 47th Electron launch to date. Liftoff from…