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
|
|
Starship explodes during preparations for static-fire test
Posted: Sun, Jun 22 6:52 AM ET (1052 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, July 1
Move over Starlink, here comes Kuiper
Gulf News — 4:58 am ET (0858 GMT) USSF Seeks Industry Ideas For Space-Based Interceptors
Aviation Week — 4:57 am ET (0857 GMT) Don’t forget about Iran’s space program
POLITICO — 4:54 am ET (0854 GMT) EU Space Act is ‘orbital equivalent of GDPR’, says lawyer
Luxembourg Times — 4:53 am ET (0853 GMT) Poland’s second ever astronaut is safe in space
Euro Weekly News — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) |
