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WASHINGTON – A rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully launched three technology demonstration satellites for the Department of Defense on May 5 as part of an effort by the military to demonstrate its responsive launch.
The Electron rocket took off at 2:00 am Eastern time from the launch site of the Rocket Lab on the Mahia Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. The launch was delayed by one day to perform additional checks of the payload of the vehicle, consisting of three satellites. These satellites were released by the rocket propulsion scene nearly 55 minutes after takeoff.
"Perfect flight, complete success of the mission, all payloads deployed !!" Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab, tweeted shortly after deploying the payload.
The rocket was on a mission for the Department of Defense Space Test Program called STP-27RD, in cooperation with the Defense Innovation Unit. The three satellites had a combined weight of 180 kilograms, the heaviest payload launched by an Electron to date. The company said the conservative margins of previous missions, as well as the launch of a lower inclination, allowed for a heavier payload.
The biggest of the three satellites is Harbinger, a 150-kilogram satellite built by York Space Systems for command of US space and missile defense by the US military. The spacecraft will demonstrate synthetic aperture radar imaging capability and high bandwidth downlink capabilities in a small satellite. It is the first satellite built by York, a small-scale Denver-based manufacturer, to reach orbit.
The launch of CubeSat-1 (SPARC-1), a six-unit flight system sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory, in cooperation with the Swedish Army, will also test the modular avionics technology of the spacecraft. The third satellite is the Air Force Academy's Falcon Orbital Debris Experience (Falcon ODE), a one-unit cube that will release two stainless steel ball bearings that will serve as radar and optical targets calibrated for the ground-based ground situation.
This is the first launch of the Air Force's Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (RALI) program, which aims to use commercial launch providers and fast-track purchases to provide faster access to military payloads in orbit. Air Force officials announced last month that they planned to launch 21 payloads for five missions during this calendar year via RALI, including the STP-27RD flight, as well as a later launch. this year by Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne.
The launch of STP-27RD, dubbed "It's a Funny Cactus", was this year's second Electron mission and the sixth in total for Rocket Lab. In an interview, Beck said last month that the company plans to move to a monthly rate of launches for the rest of the year, demonstrating its ability to launch two weeks apart. 39, here the end of the year. He added that the company's manifesto for 2019 is complete.
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