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This weekend, a small rocket company will try to launch its first commercial mission.
It will be a smaller show than the inaugural flight of SpaceX's powerful Falcon Heavy rocket in February, which propelled Elon Musk's sports car on a trajectory beyond Mars. But Rocket Lab's Electron announces a new generation of small, inexpensive, frequently-launched rockets that could prove far more important in the future for the way companies send clouds of orbit into orbit. smaller satellites.
When is the launch and how can I watch it?
Rocket Lab will broadcast the launch on the Internet from its launch site in New Zealand.
The launch window spans nine days, four hours a day. the The first opportunity will be Sunday at 16h50. New Zealand time. (In the United States it will always be Saturday, and it will be a late night show or 10:50 pm Eastern Time).
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What does the rocket carry?
There are seven payloads, all small satellites. These include two spacecraft tracking satellites for Spire Global; a small climate and environmental monitoring satellite for GeoOptics; a small catheter built by high school students in Irvine, California; and a demo version of a drag that would pull the dead satellites out of their orbit.
Why is the Electron rocket so small?
Like Earth's technology, satellites are getting smaller and can now be launched on smaller rockets. Businesses and governments are also seeing advantages in designing small satellite constellations to perform tasks that were once managed by a giant and expensive satellite. With this approach, the failure of a satellite can be managed by moving around the remaining satellites. It is also faster and cheaper to send a replacement.
What other companies are building small rockets to launch smaller satellites?
At least 150 companies are working on small rockets, although they will probably never be launched.
Some of the most promising are Virgin Orbit, created by billionaire Richard Branson; and Vector Launch and Firefly Aerospace, created by SpaceX alumni.
Two other promising companies are Relativity Space, which plans to 3D print most of its rocket, and Gilmour Space, based in Australia.
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