Previous Spaceflight Launches
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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: Success
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.
Electron | Pics Or It Didn’t Happen
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
July 4, 2020, 9:19 p.m.
Status: 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: Success
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.
Electron | Running Out Of Fingers
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Dec. 6, 2019, 8:18 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission: Dedicated Rideshare
This is the Rocket Lab's 10th flight. It carries several small satellites for international commercial customers. This is also the first flight to feature an upgraded first stage of the Electron rocket, which is now equipped with new hardware and sensors. After completing its mission, Electron's first stage will perform a guided atmospheric re-entry, gathering data necessary for the development of Rocket Lab's reusability program.
Low Earth OrbitElectron | As The Crow Flies
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Oct. 17, 2019, 1:22 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission: Earth Science
Encapsulated in Electron's fairing will be a single spacecraft for Astro Digital, a California-based satellite manufacturer and operator. The Landmapper-BC remote sensing satellite features a broad coverage multispectral imaging system with a resolution of 22 meters per pixel. Eventually, Astro Digital plans to extend the Landmapper-BC constellation to capture daily, multispectral imagery of the world’s arable land. The mission is named 'As The Crow Flies' in a nod to Astro Digital's Corvus Platform, which provides flexible and cost-effective solutions across a wide range of applications and mission profiles on bus variants ranging from 6U and 16U CubeSats to ESPA Class. Corvus is also a widely-distributed genus of birds which includes crows.
Low Earth OrbitElectron | Look Ma, No Hands
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Aug. 19, 2019, 12:12 p.m.
Electron | Make It Rain
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
June 29, 2019, 4:30 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission: Dedicated Rideshare
Rideshare mission for Spaceflight. Electron will launch seven spacecraft, including a commercial Earth-observing microsatellite for BlackSky, two CubeSats for U.S. Special Operations Command, a pair of tiny prototype data relay nodes for Swarm Technologies, a student-built payload from Australia called ACRUX-1, and a satellite whose identity and owner remain a secret. The mission is named "Make it Rain" in a nod to the high volume of rainfall in Seattle, where Spaceflight is headquartered, as well in New Zealand where Launch Complex 1 is located.
Low Earth OrbitElectron | STP-27RD (That's a Funny Looking Cactus)
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
May 5, 2019, 6 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission: Dedicated Rideshare
The mission has been procured by the DoD Space Test Program in partnership with Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) as part of its Rapid Agile Launch Initiative .The payload consists of three satellites, SPARC-1, Falcon ODE and Harbinger, that will deployed in a precise sequence. The Space Plug and Play Architecture Research CubeSat-1 (SPARC-1) mission, sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV), is a joint Swedish-United States experiment to explore technology developments in avionics miniaturization, software defined radio systems, and space situational awareness (SSA). The Falcon Orbital Debris Experiment (Falcon ODE), sponsored by the United States Air Force Academy, will evaluate ground-based tracking of space objects. Harbinger, a commercial small satellite built by York Space Systems and sponsored by the U.S Army, will demonstrate the ability of an experimental commercial system to meet DoD space capability requirements.
Low Earth OrbitElectron | DARPA R3D2 (Two Thumbs Up)
Rocket Lab Ltd | USAOnenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
March 28, 2019, 11:27 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission: Communications
Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) is a mission for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It will test a prototype reflect array antenna which is intended to improve radio communications in small spacecraft.
Low Earth Orbit #R3D2
