Previous Spaceflight Launches
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Electron | Running Out Of Toes
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
May 15, 2021, 11:11 a.m.
Electron | They Go Up So Fast
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
March 22, 2021, 10:30 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission: Dedicated Rideshare
The Electron rocket will carry seven satellites to low Earth orbit: one Earth-observation satellite for BlackSky, two Internet-Of-Things (IoT) nanosatellites for companies Fleet Space and Myriota, a technology demonstration satellite for the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space, a weather satellite pathfinder technology demonstration from Care Weather technologies, a technology demonstrator for the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command as well as Rocket Lab’s in-house designed and built Photon Pathstone spacecraft which will operate on orbit as a risk reduction demonstration to build spacecraft heritage ahead of Rocket Lab’s mission to the Moon for NASA later this year.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitElectron | Another One Leaves The Crust
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Jan. 20, 2021, 7:26 a.m.
Electron | StriX-α (The Owl's Night Begins)
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Dec. 15, 2020, 10:09 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
StriX-α is a demonstration mission for Japanese company Synspective which plans to deploy a constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites. For this mission, Rocket Lab will utilize a custom expanded fairing to encompass Synspective’s wide-body satellite – the first use of the expanded fairing options that Rocket Lab recently introduced.
Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Electron | Return to Sender
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Nov. 20, 2020, 2:20 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission: Dedicated Rideshare
"Return to Sender" will loft 30 satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km altitude for a range of customers, including TriSept, Unseenlabs, Swarm, Te Pūnaha Ātea - Auckland Space Institute, and global gaming software company Valve. The satellites span a range of operations, from TriSept’s tech demonstration of new tether systems designed to accelerate spacecraft reentry and reduce orbital debris, through to the next generation of maritime surveillance satellites for Unseenlabs, as well as communications satellites for Swarm. The mission will also deploy New Zealand’s first student-built satellite, the APSS-1 satellite for Te Pūnaha Ātea - Auckland Space Institute at The University of Auckland. The DRAGRACER mission will test the effectiveness of new tether technologies designed to accelerate spacecraft reentry and reduce orbital debris at the conclusion of space missions. TriSept has completed the integration of a pair of qualified Millennium Space Systems 6U small satellites, one featuring the tether drag device and one without. The controlled spacecraft should deorbit in approximately 45 days, while the second spacecraft is expected to remain in orbit for seven to nine years. BRO-2 and BRO-3 are the second and third satellites in French company Unseenlabs’ planned constellation of about 20 satellites dedicated to maritime surveillance. Swarm will launch the latest 24 1/4U SpaceBEE satellites to continue building out its planned constellation of 150 satellites to provide affordable satellite communications services to IoT devices in remote regions around the world. The student-built Waka Āmiorangi Aotearoa APSS-1 satellite is designed to monitor electrical activity in Earth’s upper atmosphere to test whether ionospheric disturbances can predict earthquakes. Extra payload on this flight is a 150 mm 3D printed Half-Life Gnome Chompski. Created for Valve Software's co-founder Gabe Newell by design studio Weta Workshop, it serves as an homage to the innovation and creativity of gamers worldwide, and also aims to test and qualify a novel 3D printing technique that could be employed for future spacecraft components. Gnome will remain attached to the Kick Stage and will burn up on reentry. Besides payloads, this flight will also serve as a test of Electron's reusability. Rocket Lab will 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.
Sun-Synchronous Orbit #ReturnToSender Electron - Maiden Flight PacificElectron | In Focus
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Oct. 28, 2020, 9:21 p.m.
Electron | I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Aug. 31, 2020, 3:05 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission: Earth Science
This return to flight mission is dedicated for Capella Space, an information services company providing Earth observation data on demand. Capella’s payload, ‘Sequoia’, is a single 100 kg class microsatellite which will be the first publicly available satellite in the company’s commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation. By positioning the satellite to a 45-degree inclination, Capella Space will maximize coverage over important areas such as the Middle East, Korea, Japan, Europe, South East Asia, Africa, and the U.S. The mission name is a nod to Capella’s SAR technology that provides high quality images of the Earth day or night, and in any weather conditions, as well as a nod to the infamous advertisement campaign for “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”. Capella’s space-based radar can detect sub-0.5 meter changes on the surface of the Earth, providing insights and data that can be used for security, agricultural and infrastructure monitoring, as well as disaster response and recovery.
Low Earth OrbitElectron | Pics Or It Didn’t Happen
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
July 4, 2020, 9:19 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission: Dedicated Rideshare
‘Pics Or It Didn’t Happen’ is the 13th mission for Rocket Lab. It was planned to deploy seven imaging small satellites to a 500km circular low Earth orbit for a range of customers including Spaceflight Inc.’s customer Canon Electronics, as well as Planet and In-Space Missions.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitElectron | Don't Stop Me Now
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
June 13, 2020, 5:12 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission: Dedicated Rideshare
This rideshare mission carries small satellites for NASA, University of New South Wales and for NRO. The mission has been named "Don't Stop Me Now" in recognition of Rocket Lab board member and avid Queen fan Scott Smith, who recently passed away.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitElectron | NROL-151 (Birds of a Feather)
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Jan. 31, 2020, 2:56 a.m.
