Rocket Lab – Page 7 – Spaceflight Now

Rocket Lab plans next launch Saturday, closes in on first mission from Virginia

July 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab is readying for a launch from its New Zealand spaceport Saturday (U.S. time) with seven commercial satellites from Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, while teams at Wallops Island, Virginia, move closer to Rocket Lab’s first launch there as soon as August.

U.S. military to award smallsat launch contracts using COVID-19 relief funds

June 19, 2020 Stephen Clark

The U.S. military said this week it plans to award rideshare small satellite launch contracts to six U.S. companies using funds appropriated to help stabilize the defense industrial base amid the coronavirus pandemic.

University-built CubeSat launched with swarm of auroral science nodes

June 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab successfully launched five small satellites from New Zealand Saturday for customers in the United States and Australia, including a CubeSat with a novel swarm of tiny magnetometers to measure the plasma currents that shape colorful auroras.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab back in action with twilight launch in New Zealand

June 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket took off at 1:12 a.m. EDT (0512 GMT) Saturday carrying five payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and the University of New South Wales at Canberra in Australia. The launch was the first for Rocket Lab since January due to delays related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Rocket Lab reports recovery test success

April 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Aiming for reusability, Rocket Lab has demonstrated the mid-air recovery of a booster test article in a key test before rigging the first stage of the company’s Electron launcher with a parachute on missions beginning later this year.

Citing coronavirus concerns, Rocket Lab pauses launch operations

March 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab says it has paused launch operations after the government of New Zealand this week ordered most businesses closed and urged people to stay at home in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

NASA picks Rocket Lab to launch lunar CubeSat mission

February 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Friday that Rocket Lab will launch a 55-pound CubeSat from Wallops Island, Virginia, toward the moon in early 2021 on a demonstration mission to test lunar navigation techniques and scout a unique elliptical orbit for the planned Gateway mini-space station.

Rocket Lab successfully launches NRO satellite

January 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

A light-class Electron launcher built and owned by Rocket Lab fired into orbit Thursday (U.S. time) from a privately-owned spaceport in New Zealand with a top secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab conducts first Electron launch of 2020

January 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s first mission of 2020 lifted off from New Zealand’s North Island at 9:56 p.m. EST Thursday (0256 GMT; 3:56 p.m. New Zealand time Friday) with a secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government’s fleet of intelligence-gathering spy satellites.

NRO, the U.S. spy satellite agency, preps for first dedicated launch on foreign soil

January 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government’s fleet of intelligence-gathering satellites, is scheduled to launch from New Zealand as soon as Jan. 30 (U.S. time), officials announced Monday.