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Oct. 14, 2021
What's better than one Electron launch? How about TWO?
Our launch team is busy preparing Electron and Launch Complex 1 for TWO back-to-back launches in November for our customers BlackSky and Spaceflight.
Across two launch windows opening days apart, we're sending four Gen-2 satellites for BlackSky to low Earth orbit as they quickly expand their constellation of Earth-imaging sats to meet growing demand for real-time insights across the globe. With a third dedicated mission for BlackSky on the manifest to follow - alongside the Gen-2 satellite we successfully deployed for them on our 'They Go Up So Fast' mission in March - these missions represent the largest number of satellites BlackSky have committed to a single launch provider yet. We're thrilled to be their ride to space and can't wait to head to the skies again with these two missions next month.
🚀 Love At First Insight launch window: opens November 11
🚀🚀 A Data With Destiny launch window: opens November 27
Image above: BlackSky's Gen-2 satellites ready and waiting in our payload cleanroom and integration area at Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.
Mission Overview
Scheduled to lift-off from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, the ‘Love At First Insight’ mission will be Rocket Lab’s 22nd Electron launch overall and fifth mission of 2021.
The ‘Love At First Insight’ mission is the latest in a multi-launch agreement signed earlier this year for BlackSky between Rocket Lab and Spaceflight Inc., which is providing integration and mission management services for BlackSky. This mission will deploy the eighth and ninth satellites of BlackSky’s planned constellation as part of that rapid-launch agreement, with another four Gen-2 smallsats across the two additional Electron dedicated missions to follow.
Welcome to the family
We are so excited to introduce you to the newest member of the Rocket Lab family: Advanced Solutions, Inc (ASI), based in Colorado.
ASI are pioneers in critical flight software that powers spacecraft when they're in space, supporting satellites with Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC), mission simulations, and test software. Their off-the-shelf flight software MAX has been operating across more than 45 satellites for a cumulative 135 years in space, helping satellites to get to far-away planets and broaden what we're capable of in space.
Bringing ASI onto the team will help us expand what we do in Space Systems with our Photon satellites, and continue growing our list of satellite hardware components on offer. We couldn't think of a better team to help us continue streamlining access to space for satellite customers, no matter what the mission. Welcome to the family, ASI!
Let's go solar sailing
We're honored to have been tapped by NASA to launch their Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) technology demonstration on an Electron mission next year!
Much like wind in a sail moves boats on the water, a solar sail can harness sunlight to propel a spacecraft - opening up the possibility to remove the need for rocket fuel to move around in space. NASA wants to build on this capability to potentially power deep space missions at much lower cost, and by testing composite material in the solar sail boom that will deploy from the ACS3 CubeSat, the results from the technology demonstration will guide the design of future larger-scale composite solar sail systems that could be used for space weather early warning satellites, near-Earth asteroid reconnaissance missions, or communications relays for crewed exploration missions.
ACS3 requires a higher altitude than the other rideshare payloads launching on the same mission, so after deploying the first payloads, the Kick Stage will perform another burn with its 3D printed Curie engine to raise the orbit and deploy ACS3. Electron and the Kick Stage's proven ability to deliver satellites to their precise locations in space even when sharing the ride to orbit with others was one of the reasons NASA chosen Electron for ACS3's launch to space.
Launching a composite satellite on the world's first full carbon composite rocket seems like a fitting partnership to us, and we're thrilled to be supporting this mission to push the boundaries of composites in space once again.
Related links:
BlackSky: https://www.blacksky.com/
Spaceflight: https://spaceflight.com/
Rocket Lab: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/
Images, Animation, Text, Credits: Rocket Lab/NASA.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
