Watch Rocket Lab launch its second 2019 orbital mission late tonight – TechCrunch

Update: Delayed and they will try again 24 hours later, so come back tonight.

Fast-growing launch provider Rocket Lab launches its second orbital payload of the year late tonight according to our calculations, early in the evening on the launch site in New Zealand. It will carry three experimental satellites in low Earth orbit and you can watch it live.

This is the fifth orbital mission of Rocket Lab. Even if its goal is to provide launches of a few weeks, it will take a little while before, it is now possible every two months. But with new funding of $ 140 million, it should change quite quickly.

The payloads that go up tonight / tomorrow are as follows:

• SPARC-1: Space Plug and Play Architecture Research CubeSat is an Air Force research lab on which they have been working with Swedes for years. This is a new design for a 6U vehicle with a reconfigurable orbital transceiver, designed to "allow live experimentation of different waveforms and protocols useful for communication missions". A camera to observe the scene until then.
• Falcon ODE: This orbital debris experiment will release two stainless steel ball bearings on known space paths, which will help calibrate ground debris detection systems.
• Presage: A small, scary sound satellite and the heaviest micro-satellite ever built by Rocket Lab's electron launcher. This one, also from the Air Force, uses a synthetic aperture radar to observe the Earth, regardless of lighting or cloud cover. It is a demonstrator of rapid production techniques and standardized parts designed to accelerate the deployment of new spacecraft.

Fairing of the Falcon-ODE payload.

In total, its content includes 180 kilograms, or nearly 400 pounds, the heaviest load ever achieved by Electron.

Takeoff is scheduled for 18:00 local time in New Zealand, which corresponds to 23:00 Pacific time here in the United States. If time permits, do not worry – this launch window remains open for two weeks. You can watch the entire movie a few minutes before 11 am on the Rocket Lab website.