Rocket Lab launches smallsats
Posted: Fri, Mar 26, 2021, 6:02 PM ET (2202 GMT)
Rocket Lab successfully launched six satellites and a second demonstration of its Photon satellite bus Monday. The Electron rocket lifted off from the company's New Zealand launch pad at 6:30 pm EDT (2230 GMT), deploying five satellites into a 550-kilometer orbit nearly an hour after liftoff and the sixth, a BlackSky imaging satellite, into a 450-kilometer orbit an hour later. The satellites on the mission included internet-of-things satellites for Fleet and Myriota, the Gunsmoke-J technology demonstration satellite for the U.S. Army, and two smaller cubesats. After deploying the satellites, the kick stage reconfigured itself into a Photon satellite bus, the second such test of that Rocket Lab platform. The company plans to test systems on that Photon that will be needed for the launch later this year of NASA's CAPSTONE lunar cubesat mission.
Rocket Lab successfully launched six satellites and a second demonstration of its Photon satellite bus Monday. The Electron rocket lifted off from the company's New Zealand launch pad at 6:30 pm EDT (2230 GMT), deploying five satellites into a 550-kilometer orbit nearly an hour after liftoff and the sixth, a BlackSky imaging satellite, into a 450-kilometer orbit an hour later. The satellites on the mission included internet-of-things satellites for Fleet and Myriota, the Gunsmoke-J technology demonstration satellite for the U.S. Army, and two smaller cubesats. After deploying the satellites, the kick stage reconfigured itself into a Photon satellite bus, the second such test of that Rocket Lab platform. The company plans to test systems on that Photon that will be needed for the launch later this year of NASA's CAPSTONE lunar cubesat mission.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Roscosmos replaces cosmonaut on next Crew Dragon mission to ISS
Posted: Sat, Dec 6 9:45 AM ET (1445 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, December 15
Satellites help tackle landfill methane leaks
ESA — 4:46 am ET (0946 GMT) SpaceX adds 27 satellites to its growing Starlink constellation
UPI — 4:45 am ET (0945 GMT) STMicro has shipped 5 billion chips for Starlink in past decade; that could double by 2027
Reuters — 4:44 am ET (0944 GMT) Hegseth Visits Alabama to Cement Redstone Arsenal as Future Home of Space Command
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 4:43 am ET (0943 GMT) RocketLab sends Japanese communications satellite into orbit
UPI — 4:42 am ET (0942 GMT) |
