spacetoday.net: Rocket Lab, SpaceX conduct launches

Posted: Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 11:12 AM ET (1612 GMT)
Rocket Lab and SpaceX conducted launched minutes apart Tuesday. A Rocket Lab Electron lifted off from the company's New Zealand launch site at 6:17 pm EST (2317 GMT) and placed into orbit the first Gen-3 imaging satellite for BlackSky. The satellite is capable of 35-centimeter imagery, among other improvements. BlackSky signed a contract with Rocket Lab in 2023 for five Electron launches. At 6:21 pm EST (2321 GMT), a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, placing 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. The first stage of the rocket landed on a droneship in The Bahamas, the first time the company conducted a landing there. SpaceX said droneship landings in The Bahamas open up new trajectory options, including for the upcoming Fram2 private astronaut mission that will fly to polar orbit.