Rocket Lab will launch a radar Earth observation satellite for California company Capella Space Tuesday morning (September 19), and you can watch the action live.
An Electron rocket carrying one of Capella’s “Acadia” synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site on Tuesday at 2:33 a.m. EDT (0633 GMT; 6:33 p.m. New Zealand local time ).
You can watch it live on Space.com when the time comes, courtesy of Rocket Lab, or directly through the company.
Related: Rocket Lab launches booster with pre-flight engine for first time (video)
If everything goes according to plan on Tuesday, Electron will deploy the Acadia satellite into a circular orbit of about 395 miles (635 kilometers) about 57 minutes after liftoff. After the checkout period, the spacecraft will observe our planet via radar light, collecting data for various customers.
“The Capella satellite provides the highest quality, high-resolution SAR imagery commercially available with the ability to penetrate all weather conditions and capture clear imagery 24-7, day and night, anywhere on Earth,” Rocket Lab wrote in the mission’s press kit, which You can find it here.
“The next-generation Acadia satellite includes several new features that enable faster downlink speeds and even higher-quality images for fast, reliable insights that are easily accessible through Capella’s fully automated ordering and delivery platform,” they added.
Tuesday’s mission, which Rocket Lab is calling “We’ll Never Leave You Behind,” is the second of four contracted launches to send Capella’s Acadia satellite into orbit. The first launch in the series occurred on August 23.
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Last month’s launch, which Rocket Lab dubbed “We Love the Nightlife,” featured a major reuse milestone for the company: One of Electron’s nine Rutherford first-stage engines had flown previously.
In addition, Rocket Lab lowered the rocket’s first stage slowly to plunge into the ocean with the help of a parachute, then towed it back to shore for inspection and analysis. This is the eighth rocket recovery for Rocket Lab, which is working to make the Electron’s first stage reusable.
It’s unclear whether “We Will Never Desert You” features a similar attempt at rocket reuse; Rocket Lab hasn’t announced anything yet. But the company did not reveal that “We Love the Nightlife” would use engines that had already flown until shortly before takeoff.
2023-09-19 09:44:49
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