Tag: Rocket Lab
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BlackSky’s latest satellite delivers first images (and AI insights) hours after launch
One of the first pictures from the BlackSky 7 satellite zeroed in on Perth, Australia, and the city’s billion-dollar Waterbank development site. Click on the image for a larger version. (BlackSky Photo) That didn’t take long: BlackSky says the latest Earth observation satellite in its growing constellation delivered its first imagery less than a day…
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Rocket Lab launches Photon pathfinder on They Go Up So Fast
The 19th flight of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, named They Go Up So Fast, lifted off on Monday, March 22 at 22:30 UTC. On board the mission were six customer satellites and an internal Photon pathfinder satellite named Pathstone, which will gain flight heritage ahead of future Photon missions to the moon and Venus. The…
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Rocket Lab reveals reusable, medium-lift Neutron rocket
To date, Rocket Lab has successfully introduced the first dedicated small satellite launch vehicle, Electron, which CEO Peter Beck said would never be reusable. Then, the company successfully recovered a first stage. Now, Beck says Rocket Lab is ready to do something else he previously said they’d never do: build a big rocket. The Neutron…
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Another One Leaves The Crust begins busy year for Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab started its busiest year with the dedicated launch of a micro-satellite aboard their Electron rocket for OHB Group on Wednesday. Named “Another One Leaves The Crust,” the mission launched at 2:26 AM EST (07:26 UTC) on Wednesday, January 20 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1A on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula. This was the…
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The Owl’s Night Begins: Japan’s StriX-α satellite launches with Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab has launched the 17th flight of their small satellite launcher vehicle, Electron, on a mission named “The Owl’s Night Begins” after the only payload onboard: StriX-α. Liftoff occurred at 10:09 UTC (05:09 EST; 23:09 local time) on 15 December 2020 from Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. The launch…
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Rocket Lab, raising money for children’s hospital, succeeds with first stage recovery
Rocket Lab is preparing to launch its sixth mission of 2020 — a launch which the company calls its “most diverse mission yet,” with 30 satellites onboard and a launch broadcast that will raise money for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Starship children’s hospital. Electron will blast off from LC-1A on New Zealand’s Māhia…
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Rocket Lab launches “In Focus” mission for Planet, Canon imaging satellites
Rocket Lab launched their fifth Electron mission of 2020 — a rideshare for Planet Labs and Spaceflight Industries named “In Focus,” a reference to Electron’s payload of 10 Earth-imaging satellites. The flight targeted a 500 kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, ideal for Earth observation missions as the high inclination means the satellites can cover large portions of…
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Radar imagery released from Capella’s Sequoia satellite
This image of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai was captured by Capella’s Sequoia radar satellite. Credit: Capella Space Capella Space has released the first images from its Sequoia radar remote sensing spacecraft, a commercial imaging platform that launched in August as the first of a constellation that could number 36 radar observation satellites. The roughly 220-pound…
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Rocket Lab Debuts Photon Satellite
Rocket Lab has announced that the kick stage used on their 14th Electron launch, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical,” was transitioned into satellite mode after payload deployment. This is the first Photon satellite to fly, named “First Light.” The technology demonstration tested the spacecraft systems needed to enable new missions to Earth orbit, the…
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Rocket Lab Returns To Flight with Electron’s 14th mission
Rocket Lab’s Electron smallsat launch vehicle successfully Returned To Flight with a mission nicknamed “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical”. This was the company’s first launch following an anomaly on the “Pics or it Didn’t Happen” flight that led to that mission’s failure. For its 14th flight, Electron carried Capella Space’s “Sequoia” microsatellite to a…