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Rocket Lab USA, Inc., a global company in launch services and space systems, successfully launched its 52nd Electron rocket and deployed a single satellite to low Earth orbit for Capella Space. The mission was the latest in a multi-launch contract with Capella Space to deploy a series of its Acadia satellites to low Earth orbit for its Earth-imaging constellation.<\/p>\n
The mission, named \u201cA Sky Full of SARs\u201d in a nod to the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capabilities of Capella\u2019s spacecraft, lifted off at 01:18 AM New Zealand Standard Time on August 12th from Launch Complex 1, Rocket Lab\u2019s private orbital launch site on New Zealand\u2019s Mahia Peninsula. The mission deployed the next of Capella\u2019s third-generation SAR Acadia satellites to a mid-inclination 615km low Earth orbit. In addition to the launch service, Rocket Lab provided a custom extended fairing on Electron to encompass the payload before Capella\u2019s satellite was deployed to space from a Rocket Lab-produced separation system.<\/p>\n
The mission was the fifth launch for Capella that\u2019s taken place since Capella\u2019s first mission on Electron in August 2020. That mission, called \u201cI Can\u2019t Believe It\u2019s Not Optical\u201d, launched from Launch Complex 1 to deploy the very first satellite in Capella\u2019s SAR constellation. Subsequent successful missions include the \u201cStronger Together\u201d mission launched for Capella from Rocket Lab\u2019s Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, in March 2023 and the \u201cWe Love The Nightlife\u201d mission launched from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand just five months later in August 2023.<\/p>\n
Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck<\/strong> says: \u201cElectron is a reliable constellation builder, providing precise and dedicated deployment to unique orbits that allows satellite operators like Capella to iteratively build out their constellation when and where they need to. I\u2019m proud of the team for delivering this latest successful mission for Capella and for successfully delivering nine missions so far this year as Electron\u2019s launch cadence continues to ramp up. With many more missions scheduled in the coming weeks and months, we look forward to delivering our busiest launch year yet in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n The launch window for Rocket Lab\u2019s next Electron mission will be announced in the coming days. Most recently Rocket Lab announced a record ten launch contract with Japanese Earth observation company Synspective, with another two launches in addition to that contract already booked and scheduled for launch on Electron this year. Other satellite operators expected to launch this year under existing multi-launch contracts with Rocket Lab include space-based intelligence company BlackSky and French Internet-of-Things (IoT) company Kin\u00e9is.<\/p>\n Click here to learn more about Capella Space’s SAR Imagery Satellite Capabilities<\/strong><\/p>\n