Electron launches with OHB satellite. (Credit: Rocket Lab webcast)
Launched just six months after contract signing, Rocket Lab’s ‘Another One Leaves The Crust’ mission demonstrated the longest on-orbit burn to date for the Kick Stage’s Curie engine
LONG BEACH, Calif., 26 January 2021 (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab, the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, demonstrated the increased maneuvering capability of the Kick Stage during the company’s 18th Electron launch, successfully burning the Curie engine for more than twice the standard mission duration and delivering more than 1,700 km of perigee change.
Electron launches with OHB satellite. (Credit: Rocket Lab webcast)
MAHIA PENINSULA, NZ, Jan. 20, 2021 (OHB PR) — OHB Cosmos International, a company of OHB’s newly established business segment OHB DIGITAL, successfully launched the telecommunication satellite GMS-T on board an Electron launcher.
The satellite took off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula at 7.26 a.m. (UCT) on January 20th.The launch was performed only seven months after starting engineering activities for the satellite. After having reached the planned 1200 km/90 degree orbit the satellite has been activated and works as planned.
Fully loading the propellant and detecting no leaks is a major milestone for the Green Run test series. A total of 114 tanker trucks delivered propellant to six propellant barges next to the B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. (Credits: NASA)
The upcoming holiday weekend (Martin Luther King Day on Monday) will see NASA conduct the long awaited Green Run hot fire of its Space Launch System rocket core and orbital launches by Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit and SpaceX involving 71 satellites.
Saturday, January 16
Launch Vehicle: Rocket Lab Electron Mission Name: “Another One Leaves the Crust” Payload: OHB Group micro communications satellites Launch Time: 2:41 EST (0741 UTC) Launch Site: Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand Webcast: www.rocketlabusa.com (begins 15 minutes prior to launch)
UPDATE: Launch scrubbed as engineers examine sensor data. They have a 10-day launch window.
Hot Fire: Space Launch System Core Test Window: 5-7 p.m. EST (2200–0000 UTC) Test Site: Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss. Webcast:www.nasa.gov (begins at 4:20 p.m. EST/2120 UTC) Post-test Briefing: Approximately two hours after test completion on NASA website
Sunday, January 17
Launch Vehicle: Virgin Orbit LauncherOne/Cosmic Girl Mission Name: NASA ELaNa-20 mission Payloads: 10 CubeSats Launch Window: 1:00-5:00 p.m. EST (1800-2200 UMT) Launch Sites: Mojave Air and Space Port, California (Cosmic Girl Boeing 747), Pacific Ocean (LauncherOne)
Monday, January 18
Launch Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9 Mission Name: Starlink V1.0-L16 Payloads: 60 Starlink broadband satellites Launch Time: 8:45 a.m. EST (1345 UTC) Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Webcast:www.spacex.com (begins 15 minutes before launch)
Electron launches with 10 satellites on Oct. 29, 2020. (Credit: Rocket Lab webcast)
LONG BEACH, Calif., January 5, 2021 (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab, the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, has today announced its first Electron launch of the new year will be a dedicated mission for European space technology company OHB Group.
EDWARDS, Calif. (NASA PR) — A system originally developed to collect distributed strain and temperature measurements on aircraft has been enhanced to support future NASA space missions. Two companies were selected by NASA through the 2020 Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity to further develop and commercialize the technology.
The Fiber Optic Sensing System (FOSS) developed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, uses sensors that are the size of a human hair to monitor vehicle structural and thermal response. Much of the technology effort to advance FOSS for use on airplanes and rockets was funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Center Innovation Fund.
A crew recovers the first stage of an Electron rocket from the ocean. (Credit: Rocket Lab)
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Rocket Lab PR) — Our team is still on a high from recovering an Electron booster for the first time. This was a monumental milestone and achievement for our recovery plans and sets us on a strong path to make Electron a reusable launch vehicle. Here’s how it all went down, and what’s next for the Rocket Lab reusability program.
Illustration of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE). (Credit: Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems)
The CAPSTONE mission will see Rocket Lab extend its reach far beyond Earth orbit for the first time to deploy an in-house designed and built Photon spacecraft to the Moon.
Long Beach, Calif. (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab has reached a key milestone ahead of the company’s first launch to the Moon, with spacecraft qualification underway for the Photon spacecraft that will transport a NASA satellite into a unique lunar orbit that no other spacecraft has explored before.
An Electron rocket lifts off with the StriX-α satellite. (Credit: Rocket Lab)
MAHIA PENINSULA, New Zealand (Rocket Lab PR) — Rocket Lab, the leading dedicated small launch provider and space systems company, has successfully launched its 17th Electron mission, deploying the first spacecraft to orbit for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data and solutions provider Synspective.
SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity makes first glide flight at Spaceport America in New Mexico. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
SpaceX scrubbed the launch of the SXM-7 for SiriusXM satellite radio on Friday morning. The countdown for the Falcon 9 rocket was held at T-30 seconds.
“Standing down from today’s launch attempt to perform additional ground system checkouts; teams are working toward no earlier than Sunday, December 13 for next launch attempt of SXM-7,” SpaceX tweeted.
The window for Virgin Galactic’s first suborbital flight of SpaceShipTwo from Spaceport America in New Mexico opened on Friday. However, the company did not conduct a flight with scientific experiments.
“Good morning from NM. Vehicles and flight crew are ready. Flight window is now open. We will fly no earlier than Saturday. We have range clearance through the weekend and can extend into next week if necessary. Evaluating high-level winds and turbulence. Stay tuned for updates,” Virgin Galactic tweeted.
Rocket Lab has delayed its launch of the StriX-α synthetic aperture radar satellite from New Zealand by a day to Tuesday, Dec. 15 for a rather unusual reason.
“To avoid a solar eclipse that could affect Synspective’s mission, we’re now targeting Dec 15 for launch,” the company tweeted. “When customers request a new T-0, we’re happy to oblige. That’s the beauty of dedicated launch on Electron, our customers get to choose (and change!) their launch time.”
The target lift-off time for the The Owl’s Night Begins mission on Dec. 15 is:
UTC: 09:00-10:59 NZT: 22:00-23:59 JST: 18:00-19:59 PST: 01:00-02:59 EST: 04:00-05:59.
The Terminator Tape Deorbit Module interacts with the space environment to rapidly drag a satellite out of orbit. (Credit: Tethers Unlimited)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec. 7, 2020 – Two Millennium Space Systems-built small satellites were successfully launched into low-Earth orbit last month – and the company’s engineers, as well as the world’s amateur satellite tracking community, now are watching them as they race back to Earth.
Electron launches with 10 satellites on Oct. 29, 2020. (Credit: Rocket Lab webcast)
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab, a space technology company and global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, has today announced Japanese Earth-imaging company Synspective as the customer for Rocket Lab’s 17th Electron launch, and its seventh mission of the year.
An Electron first stage descends under parachute. “My new favourite image of 2020,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck tweeted. (Credit: Rocket Lab)
by Douglas Messier Managing Editor
Rocket Lab launched 30 satellites into orbit from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand on Friday. For the first time, the company recovered the Electron rocket’s first stage.
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 17 U.S. companies for 20 partnerships to mature industry-developed space technologies for the Moon and beyond through the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s 2020 Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO).
The selected proposals are relevant to technology topic areas outlined in the solicitation, including cryogenic fluid management and propulsion; advanced propulsion; sustainable power; in-situ propellant and consumable production; intelligent/resilient systems and advanced robotics; advanced materials and structures; entry, descent, and landing; and small spacecraft technologies.
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 17 U.S. companies for 20 partnerships to mature industry-developed space technologies for the Moon and beyond. The NASA and industry teams will design a 3D printing system for NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, test a simple method for removing dust from planetary solar arrays, mature a first-stage rocket recovery system for a small satellite launch provider, and more.
Various NASA centers will work with the companies, ranging from small businesses and large aerospace companies to a previous NASA challenge winner, to provide expertise and access to the agency’s unique testing facilities. The partnerships aim to accelerate the development of emerging space capabilities.
LONG BEACH, Calif., November 5, 2020 (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab has today revealed that it will attempt to recover the first stage of its Electron rocket during its next mission, the ‘Return to Sender’ launch, scheduled for lift-off in mid-November.
The test will see Rocket Lab attempt to bring Electron’s first stage back to Earth under a parachute system for a controlled water landing before collection by a recovery vessel.
