Tag: New Zealand
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Dawn Aerospace Opens Orders for Aurora Suborbital Spaceplane
Dawn Aerospace announced on Wednesday that it has begun accepting orders for its Aurora spaceplane, a reusable suborbital vehicle designed to carry small payloads into near-space, with first customer deliveries expected in 2027. The New Zealand-based aerospace company is positioning the Aurora as a commercially operated spaceplane, diverging from the conventional model of offering launch…
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Before snagging a chunk of space junk, Astroscale must first catch up to one
Astroscale, a well-capitalized Japanese startup, is preparing a small satellite to do something that has never been done in space. This new spacecraft, delivered into orbit Sunday by Rocket Lab, will approach a defunct upper stage from a Japanese H-IIA rocket that has been circling Earth for more than 15 years. Over the next few…
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Failure strikes Rocket Lab after launch from New Zealand
Rocket Lab’s string of 20 consecutive successful launches ended Tuesday when the company’s Electron rocket failed to deliver a small commercial radar imaging satellite into orbit. The problem occurred on the upper stage of the Electron rocket about two and a half minutes after liftoff from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. This was the fourth…
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NASA’s final two TROPICS CubeSats launched by Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off from Launch Complex 1B in New Zealand with NASA’s fifth and sixth TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Credit: Rocket Lab The last two spacecraft in a four-satellite constellation of tropical cyclone research platforms took off late Thursday from New Zealand on a Rocket Lab Electron launcher, helping ensure NASA’s TROPICS…
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Electron rocket launches pair of cyclone-tracking CubeSats for NASA
Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off with two of NASA’s TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Credit: Rocket Lab The first pair of four NASA CubeSats designed to provide frequent updates of typhoon and hurricane development for new insights into how tropical storms evolve and intensify were launched by Rocket Lab from its New Zealand spaceport on…
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Twin TROPICS satellites set to be lofted into orbit
Artist’s illustration of a TROPICS CubeSat in space. Credit: NASA Rocket Lab’s launch of NASA’s second pair of TROPICS hurricane research satellites, reassigned from Astra following a launch failure last year, has been rescheduled for Sunday (U.S. time) after a delay due to unfavorable weather at the the company’s New Zealand spaceport. Originally planned as…
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Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches BlackSky satellites from New Zealand
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1B on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand with the two BlackSky commercial Earth-imaging satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Rocket Lab’s live video webcast begins approximately 20 minutes prior to launch, and will be available on this…
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Rocket Lab recovers booster again after launch with BlackSky satellites
An Electron rocket lifts off Friday with two BlackSky Earth-imaging satellites. Credit: Rocket Lab Two BlackSky optical Earth-imaging satellites rode an Electron launcher into orbit Friday from New Zealand, while the Electron’s first stage booster gently parachuted into the Pacific Ocean as engineers consider abandoning airborne rocket recovery in favor of ship-based retrieval and reuse.…
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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…
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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…