Rocket Lab has sent two special earth observation satellites into the sky.
A Rocket Lab Electron broadcast was released on Saturday (April 2) at 8:41 am EST (1241 GMT) from the company’s Launch Complex 1 at the New Zealand Pen Center. It’s 1:10 am Sunday morning at the starting point.
Two Electron rocket aircraft were donated to Virginia BlackSky. They were put to good use about 40 minutes after leaving.
“Payloads has provided a 100% new missionary experience to the company,” said Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck wrote on Twitter after the start.
Select: Rocket Lab and its Electron amplifier (photos)
Rocket Lab, dubbed this release “Without Mission A Beat,” did not attempt to return to the original level of Electron at this launch. (Eventually, Rocket Lab planned to use a helicopter to pull the falling Electron to the first levels from the sky; it had previously worked on the return to the ocean on the first missionaries.)
BlackSky and Rocket Lab are longtime partners, although Electrons will have given most of BlackSky’s constellation into orbit since 2019.
“BlackSky’s proprietary constellation is one of the highest number of hourly reviews in the world, providing consumers with constant and updated information on top of each other. of economic sectors around the world, “Rocket Lab said in its” Without Mission a Beat “newsletter.
BlackSky satellites are used by government companies and a group of major companies called Global 2000, such as Rocket Lab. The platform for BlackSky, called Spectra AI, uses state -of -the -art technology to improve the delivery of information quickly for its customers.
“BlackSky supports critical day -to -day decisions across research types related to home security, supply chain information, crisis management and response, critical systems and intelligence. property, ”Rocket Lab said.
BlackSky was one of the groups that helped the world monitor Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in Feb. 24.
“Without Mission A Beat” will give @blacksky_inc two payouts to low Earth orbit, building their constellation to 14 sats – most of which Electron will spend on missionaries from 2019 .windows opens April 02 UTC, 12:10. More information: https://t.co/qMbrht2edH pic.twitter.com/g6k4DSjI3EMarch 31, 2022
Rocket Lab has announced a number of upcoming missions, with one scheduled for the second quarter of 2022 to send three overhead display satellites for the E-Space team.
“E -Space expects to reduce start -up requirements for a full constellation in months rather than years – reducing the time to expand, complete and deploy an entire system,” Rocket Lab said. for a published agreement.
Rocket Lab is also planning the launch on the part of global imagery company Synspective, for Internet of Things satellite provider Kinéis, and for government agencies such as NASA and the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Other upcoming missions include orbital debris mitigation and Venus exploration, according to Rocket Lab.
Saturday’s release comes just weeks after Rocket Lab announced it would be building its new Neutron rock on Wallops Island, Virginia, near the company’s launch site. (The company began a new second release series at its New Zealand base on Feb. 28, with the release of an Electron booster.)
Neutrons, which are reused, send larger charges into orbit than Electrons. Rocket Lab said the massive Neutron rock will add larger satellite groups into orbit, including fuel -hungry interplanetary missions and human missionaries. Neutron’s first launch is in 2024.
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