A failure during the second stage burn of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket caused seven small commercial satellites to crash back to Earth Saturday following liftoff from New Zealand.
Seven small satellites from Canon Electronics, Planet and In-Space Missions launched from New Zealand on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket Saturday at 5:19:36 p.m. EDT (2119:36 GMT), but the payloads and launch vehicle were lost after a problem during the second stage burn.
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.
Thirteen U.S.-built nanosatellites hitched a ride to space Tuesday with a sharp-eyed Indian Earth-imaging observatory at the top of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launched with 14 satellites, including a dozen “SuperDove” Earth-imaging CubeSats for Planet, at 10:58 p.m. EST Tuesday (0358 GMT Wednesday).
A dozen SuperDove nanosatellites with improved vision are set to join Planet’s Earth-observing fleet Tuesday night (U.S. time) after riding into orbit aboard an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle alongside an Indian mapping payload.
