Mission Reports

Rocket Lab’s second mission from a new launch pad in Virginia is set to take off with two commercial radar remote sensing satellites for Capella Space.

Relativity Space’s first launch countdown aborted about a minute before liftoff Wednesday at Cape Canaveral when sensors detected warmer-than-expected liquid oxygen on the Terran 1 rocket’s second stage, delaying until Saturday the first test flight of the 3D-printed launcher.

Relativity Space, a California-based startup that counts billionaire Mark Cuban as one of its early investors, is ready to launch the first 3D-printed, methane-fueled rocket into orbit from Cape Canaveral.

Relativity Space’s 10-story-tall Terran 1 rocket will encounter the most extreme aerodynamic forces of its eight-minute test flight around 80 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. That’s a key moment when the company’s engineers hope to confirm the 3D-printed rocket can withstand the rigors of launch.

Japan’s first H3 rocket, designed to launch satellites and resupply space stations, fell back to Earth Monday after its second stage engine failed to ignite five minutes into an inaugural test flight, destroying the rocket and a three-ton Earth observation spacecraft.

Japan’s new H3 rocket launched on its first test flight Monday at 8:37 p.m. EST (0137 GMT Tuesday), but faltered before reaching orbit when the second stage apparently failed to ignite about five minutes into the mission. The H3 rocket and Japan’s ALOS 3 land imaging satellite were destroyed in the failure.

Forecasters from the U.S. Space Force predict mostly sunny conditions at Cape Canaveral during a three-hour launch window Wednesday afternoon for the first flight of Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket.