Tag: Electron
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Rocket Lab returns to flight following anomaly
Rocket Lab launched its first Electron rocket since a failure on Sept. 19. The mission, named “The Moon God Awakens” launched on Dec. 15 at 7:00 pm NZDT (04:00 UTC). The payload consisted of an Earth-observing satellite named Tsukuyomi-I for the Japan-based company the Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS). The Anomaly The…
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Launch Roundup: Rocket Lab returns to flight; SpaceX launches more Starlink
SpaceX had a lighter week of launches, with Rocket Lab, Russia, and China also launching rockets. Following several delays, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 6-34 mission. Rocket Lab returned to flight on Friday with “The Moon God Awakens” mission. This comes after a previous mission, dubbed “We Will Never Desert You,” failed to reach orbit…
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Radar-imaging satellite lost as Rocket Lab Electron rocket suffers launch failure
A shower of sparks at the point the Electron rocket’s second stage engine was supposed to ignite. Image: Rocket Lab. A Rocket Lab Electron rocket, carrying a radar-imaging satellite for Capella Space, failed on Tuesday after a problem occurred two and half minutes into flight. It was the fourth failure in 41 flights for the…
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Launch Roundup: Rocket Lab fails during “We Will Never Desert You” launch; SpaceX launches two boosters for 17th time
The week of Sept. 18 through Sept. 24 is set to see four orbital launches, all but one of which are set to take place from US-based aerospace companies. Firstly, Rocket Lab launched its ninth Electron of 2023 on a mission dubbed “We Will Never Desert You.” However, the mission suffered a failure during staging.…
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Launch Roundup: North Korea has failed launch attempt, SpaceX launch back-to-back missions
Following several launch delays last week, the week of Aug. 21 through Aug. 27 is set to see seven launches marking the 129th through 135th orbital launch attempts of 2023. Starting the week off, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 7-1 mission from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 4 East at the Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB).…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX launches Galaxy 37; will launch Starlink Group 6-8
Breaking into the 31st week of 2023, from July 31 to Aug. 6, not much is held in store in terms of launches. Up first this week, a momentous flight took place when the last Antares 230+ flew to LEO during the NG-19 resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Following slightly more than…
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Launch roundup: Falcon Heavy launches largest GEO satellite, Rocket Lab’s Electron to complete 40th flight
The week of July 24 through July 30 will end the month with at least four more launches, focused mostly on increasing the number of Earth-imaging satellites sent to space. Firstly, China launched Yaogn satellites atop the Chang Zheng 2D; SpaceX also launched a Starlink mission and Falcon Heavy launched the largest-ever geostationary (GEO) satellite into…
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Launch Roundup: Rocket Lab conducts Electron reuse attempt, SpaceX flies two Starlink v2 missions
The week of July 16 through July 23 saw four more launches take place around the world, potentially increasing the orbital launch count to 108 so far in 2023. This included Rocket Lab’s launch of the “Baby Come Back” mission (which featured a first stage recovery attempt), two more SpaceX Starlink v2 missions, and the…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX finishes Starlink v1 flights – China launches methane powered ZQ-2
This week, LandSpace reached orbit on its second test flight of the ZhuQue-2 rocket; SpaceX launched the final v1.0/v1.5 Starlink satellites on Starlink Group 5-15; and India launched the Chandrayaan-3 lunar exploration mission atop their Launch Vehicle Mark 3 rocket. These launches will mark the 102nd through 104th orbital launches of 2023. If the launch…
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Launch Roundup: ULA launches Delta IV Heavy; SpaceX launches three missions
In what will be a quiet week for orbital launches, Rocket Lab launched its first suborbital Electron mission; SpaceX launched the Satria satellite to geostationary transfer orbit; China launched the Shiyan 25 payload to a Sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit; United Launch Alliance (ULA) will launch the penultimate Delta IV Heavy on the NROL-68 mission; and SpaceX…