Tag: Rocket Lab
-
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…
-
Rocket Report: North Korean rocket explosion; launch over Chinese skyline
Welcome to Edition 6.46 of the Rocket Report! It looks like we will be covering the crew test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and the fourth test flight of SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket over the next week. All of this is happening as SpaceX keeps up its cadence of flying multiple Starlink missions per week.…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
The Space Force is planning what could be the first military exercise in orbit
The US Space Force announced Thursday it is partnering with two companies, Rocket Lab and True Anomaly, for a first-of-its-kind mission to demonstrate how the military might counter “on-orbit aggression.” On this mission, a spacecraft built and launched by Rocket Lab will chase down another satellite made by True Anomaly, a Colorado-based startup. “The vendors…
-
Rocket Report: Starship could fly again in May; Ariane 6 coming together
Welcome to Edition 6.36 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX wants to launch the next Starship test flight as soon as early May, the company’s president and chief operating officer said this week. The third Starship test flight last week went well enough that the Federal Aviation Administration—yes, the FAA, the target of many SpaceX fans’…
-
Rocket Lab launches fourth satellite for Japanese Earth-imaging company, Synspective
Rocket Lab’s 45th Electron rocket to date launches on the “Owl Night Long” mission for Synspective. Image: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab launches its third Electron mission of the year and its fourth for Japanese Earth-imaging company, Synspective. The mission, dubbed “Owl Night Long,” lifted off on March 13 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex-1 in Mahia,…
-
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…