Rocket Lab Launches 2 Satellites To Circumvent, Attempts Electron Booster Recovery
Rocket Lab's electron launcher ascends from its New Zealand launch pad. (Rocket Lab via YouTube) BlackSky's Earth observation constellation has grown into two satellites thanks to Rocket Lab's Electron launcher and logistical support from Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc.
Rocket Lab's previous BlackSky version failed in May, but the launch team attributed the problem to a computer glitch that has been fixed.
This week's mission, titled "Love at First Insight," was Rocket Lab's 22nd release and the fifth since the beginning of the year.18 (5:48 p.m. PT, Nov 17), successfully deploying BlackSky's eighth and ninth satellites about an hour later. "Perfect team flight," tweeted Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck. "Another big start on the books," Spaceflight Inc., which provided mission management and integration services for BlackSky satellites, said in a tweet.
After separating the stage, the Electron's first tier elevator sank into a water landing with a parachute when a helicopter watched the fall and conducted communication tests in the rescue zone. "Beck wrote in a tweet that included a glimpse from the helicopter.
The exercise was part of Rocket Lab's effort to develop a system to restore and reuse its engines.
We are all looking forward to moving on to the next phase of conversion next year and catching Electron in the air with a helicopter,” said Beck in a press release after the launch.
Virginia-based BlackSky became a publicly traded company in September under the ticker symbol BKSY. Its Gen2 satellites are being built in Tukwila, Washington, by LeoStella, a joint venture between BlackSky (formerly known as Spaceflight Industries) and Thales Alenia Space.
Complete a constellation of 30 satellites by 2025 to feed frequently updated multispectral images to its artificial intelligence-based software platform for geointelligence (GEOINT). BlackSky tweeted at the end of 2021. The future of #GEOINT in real time has never been so bright!
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