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Updated 9:15 am Eastern Time after deploying the payload.
WASHINGTON – Rocket Lab launched four small satellites on August 19 as part of a mission that also brings the company closer to the possibility of reusing the first floor of its Electron rockets.
The Electron rocket took off from the company's launch site in the Mahia peninsula, New Zealand, at 0812 eastern time, three days after the wind had swept a previous launch attempt. The four satellites carried on the Curie turntable of the rocket successfully deployed about 53 minutes after takeoff in a circular orbit of 540 kilometers altitude, at an inclination of 45 degrees.
Three of the Mission's four satellites, "Look Ma, No Hands," were provided by Spaceflight, a carpooling aggregator. The biggest is Global-4, the fourth in a series of high resolution imaging satellites for BlackSky. This follows on from Global-3, which launched a car pooling mission for Spaceflight on June 29 during the previous Electron mission.
The other two satellites are six-unit cubesats for the US Space Command. The Pearl White cubesats, built by Tiger Innovations Inc., will test various technologies for potential use on future spacecraft.
The fourth satellite, which was launched separately, is a six-unit cubesat for the French company UnseenLabs. The satellite, built by the Danish company GomSpace, is the first in a constellation that will provide maritime surveillance services that the company says are not dependent on signal tracking of the automatic identification system.
The launch is the fourth this year for Electron and the eighth for the small pitcher. The company is looking to reach a monthly launch rate by the end of the year, but says the demand for launches is growing even faster.
This demand led the company to continue its plans, announced on August 6, to attempt to recover and reuse the first floor of Electron. "At the moment, we simply can not build enough rockets," said Peter Beck, general manager of Rocket Lab, before the interview.
As part of this effort, this launch allowed a logger to collect data at the first entry. "Basically, he goes on stage almost like a cowboy," he said. "It does not matter if the scene ends or not. It is designed to survive in a tortuous environment. "
Beck said that collecting this data would be a "crucial step" toward recovering the first step, which is to survive what he described as the "wall" of sudden deceleration without resorting to propulsion for slow it down. The data will inform an Electron block upgrade from the tenth flight of the rocket, which will include modifications allowing the first leg to survive the re-entry.
Beck said that at best, the company could recover a first step before the end of the year, which would allow him to dive into the ocean at first. In the future, Rocket Lab plans to recover the first stage in flight using a helicopter equipped with a skyhook accessory.
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