Tag: Launch Complex 1
-
Rocket Lab closes out year with launch of Synspective’s first radar satellite
A Rocket Lab Electron launcher takes off from New Zealand on Tuesday. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s seventh and final launch of the year delivered a small radar observation satellite into orbit for Synspective, a Japanese startup planning a fleet of 30 or more Earth-imaging spacecraft providing day-and-night imagery of cities around the world. The…
-
Rocket Lab recovers booster after launch with 30 small satellites
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) with image of booster. The Electron first stage is seen in the Pacific Ocean in this image shared by Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck on Twitter. Credit: Rocket Lab via Peter Beck Rocket Lab says the first stage of its Electron launcher splashed down under…
-
Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches Electron, booster parachutes into sea
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying 30 small payloads into low Earth orbit. The mission will feature Rocket Lab’s first attempt to recover an Electron booster intact for refurbishment and reuse. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow…
-
Boeing subsidiary ready to launch satellite deorbiting experiment
Artist’s concept of the DragRacer satellites. Credit: Millennium Space Systems Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing subsidiary, built two small satellites awaiting launch Thursday night on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on a mission to test the effectiveness of a drag-inducing device that could help remove spacecraft from orbit. The two small satellites are part of…
-
Rocket Lab to attempt booster recovery on next mission
File photo of an Electron rocket launching on a previous mission. Credit: Rocket Lab / Andrew Burns / Simon Moffatt On its next mission set for liftoff later this month, Rocket Lab will try to recover the first stage of its Electron small satellite launcher after parachuting into the Pacific Ocean downrange from the company’s…
-
Rocket Lab returns to service with successful launch for Capella
Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off from New Zealand at 11:05 p.m. EDT Sunday (0305 GMT Monday). Credit: Rocket Lab Flying for the first time since a failure in early July, Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher delivered Capella Space’s first commercial radar remote sensing satellite to orbit after lifting off from New Zealand Sunday. The successful…
-
Amid shuffling schedules, Capella to fly its first commercial satellite with Rocket Lab
Artist’s concept of a Capella synthetic aperture radar satellite. Credit: Capella Space After switching rockets two times due to launch delays, Capella Space is set to launch the first spacecraft in a constellation of commercial radar reconnaissance satellites from New Zealand Sunday on a Rocket Lab Electron booster. The small radar satellite, named Sequoia, is…
-
Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches Capella’s first commercial radar satellite
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying Capella Space’s Sequoia radar remote sensing satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Rocket Lab’s live video webcast begins approximately 15 minutes prior to launch, and will be available on…
-
NRO, the U.S. spy satellite agency, preps for first dedicated launch on foreign soil
The payload shroud for Rocket Lab’s next mission — designed NROL-151 by the National Reconnaissance Office — is pictured inside a processing facility in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government’s fleet of intelligence-gathering satellites, is scheduled to launch from New Zealand as…
-
Japanese company to launch artificial meteor shower satellite
Artist’s concept of shooting stars from the ALE-2 satellite. Credit: ALE Co. Ltd. A small Japanese satellite scheduled for launch Friday on a Rocket Lab Electron booster will release hundreds of colorful sky pellets to fall into the atmosphere next year, creating an artificial meteor shower that could be visible to millions. The satellite, built…