Rocket Lab Successfully Launches Rideshare Mission for Spaceflight
Rocket Lab’s launch site on New Zealand Mahia Peninsula as seen from the Electron booster. (Credit: Rocket Lab)
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Rocket Lab’s Electron booster successfully launched the “Make it Rain” rideshare mission for Seattle-based Spaceflight from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula on Saturday.
The mission lofted seven satellites, including: BlackSky’s Global-3 imaging microsat; two U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Prometheus reconnaissance CubeSats; two Swarm SpaceBEE satellites; Melbourne Space Program’s ACRUX-1 CubeSat; and one spacecraft from an undisclosed customer. The payloads weighed 80 kg (176.4 lb).
The BlackSky Global-3 imaging satellite was developed, designed and manufactured by BlackSky of the United States. The company is a provider of geospatial intelligence, satellite imaging and global monitoring services.
It was the sixth successful Electron launch in a row out of seven attempts and the third flight of 2019. Rocket Lab has now orbited 35 satellites on its six successful missions.
The mission’s name was drawn from the high volume of rainfall in Seattle where Spaceflight is headquartered and at the Mahia Peninsula where Electron from which Electron is launched.
One response to “Rocket Lab Successfully Launches Rideshare Mission for Spaceflight”
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To be picky, while some parts of NZ get a ‘high volume of rainfall’, they are mainly on the western side. Mahia (like the rest of the east coast of the North Island) is quite dry due to the significant hill ranges inland, related to the nearby tectonic plate boundary.