Tag: Rocket Lab
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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’…
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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,…
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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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Rocket Lab’s Electron Launches Astroscale’s ADRAS-J Satellite for Space Cleanup
Astroscale’s ADRAS-J spacecraft, launched aboard a Rocket Lab Electron from New Zealand’s Launch Complex 1, aims to rendezvous with and inspect a spent upper stage in low Earth orbit, setting the stage for its eventual removal. This mission marks Rocket Lab’s second launch of the year, following the deployment of four satellites for NorthStar Earth…
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Rocket Lab launches first recovery Electron mission of 2024
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off from New Zealand on the company’s first flight of 2024. Image: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab was back in action on Wednesday, kicking off its launch year with a recovery Electron mission from New Zealand. This was its second return to flight mission following a mishap late last year.…
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Rocket Lab kicks off 2024 with “Four of a Kind” satellite mission
Rocket Lab launched its first launch of 2024, with the Electron launch vehicle lofting four Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites into low-Earth orbit from the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Named “Four of a Kind,” Electron is lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex-1B in Māhia at 7:34 PM NZDT on Jan. 31 (06:34 UTC).…
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Rocket Lab successfully completes return-to-flight Electron launch
Update 12:05 a.m. EST: Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket successfully deployed the Tsukuyomi-1 satellite. Rocket Lab launched its first flight of its Electron rocket since a failure on Sept. 19. The 42nd mission for the small-satellite launcher lifted off on Dec. 15 from New Zealand during at about 1705 NZDT (0405 UTC or 11:05 p.m. EST).…
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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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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…