Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket deploys Capella Space satellite for earth imaging

Posted on by

Rocket Lab USA launched its 52nd Electron rocket and deployed a single satellite to low Earth orbit for Capella Space (Capella). The mission was the latest in a multi-launch contract with Capella Space to deploy a series of its Acadia satellites to low Earth orbit for its Earth-imaging constellation.

The mission, named ‘A Sky Full of SARs’ in a nod to the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capabilities of Capella’s spacecraft, lifted off at 01:18 AM New Zealand Standard Time on Aug. 12th from Launch Complex 1, Rocket Lab’s private orbital launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission deployed the next of Capella’s third-generation SAR Acadia satellites to a mid-inclination 615 km low Earth orbit. 

In addition to the launch service, Rocket Lab provided a custom extended fairing on Electron to encompass the payload before Capella’s satellite was deployed to space from a Rocket Lab-produced separation system.

The mission was the fifth launch for Capella that’s taken place since Capella’s first mission on Electron in August 2020. That mission, called ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical.’ launched from Launch Complex 1 to deploy the initial satellite in Capella’s SAR constellation. Subsequent successful missions include the ‘Stronger Together’ mission launched for Capella from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, in March 2023 and the ‘We Love The Nightlife’ mission launched from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand just five months later in August 2023.

“Electron is a reliable constellation builder, providing precise and dedicated deployment to unique orbits that allows satellite operators like Capella to iteratively build out their constellation when and where they need to,” Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO, said in a Sunday media statement. “I’m proud of the team for delivering this latest successful mission for Capella and for successfully delivering nine missions so far this year as Electron’s launch cadence continues to ramp up. With many more missions scheduled in the coming weeks and months, we look forward to delivering our busiest launch year yet in 2024.”

The launch window for Rocket Lab’s next Electron mission will be announced in the coming days. Most recently Rocket Lab announced a record ten launch contract with Japanese Earth observation company Synspective, with another two launches in addition to that contract already booked and scheduled for launch on Electron this year. 

Other satellite operators expected to launch this year under existing multi-launch contracts with Rocket Lab include space-based intelligence company BlackSky and French Internet-of-Things (IoT) company Kinéis.

Comment on this article via X: @IoTNow_ and visit our homepage IoT Now