Rocket Lab efficiently launched the Dwell and Let Fly mission final Thursday.
Launching at 3:25 am ET, Electron efficiently launched the Dwell and Let Fly mission, a labeled payload for the Nationwide Reconnaissance Workplace, on March twenty first.
This launch marked the corporate’s fifth consecutive profitable mission, the fourth for the yr, and the primary from its U.S.-based launch pad on the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Elevate-off for ‘Dwell And Let Fly,’ our forty sixth Electron mission!
Webcast: https://t.co/6f9NPVxWlq pic.twitter.com/iasKnG70TD
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) March 21, 2024
The mission for the NRO, dubbed NROL-123, was really 4 separate payloads, satellite tv for pc tracker Jonathan McDowell on X indicated that they have been, USA 352 (NRO payload), Aerocube 16A/16B, and MOLA. The NRO said the launch was acquired underneath the Speedy Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract.
This was the fifth mission that Rocket Lab has launched for the NRO, with the primary 4 occurring from the corporate’s launch pad on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.
Rocket Lab will now change gears and head again to New Zealand for his or her subsequent launch, which may come as quickly as subsequent month, and can launch the ACS3 cubesat for NASA and a high-resolution optical cubesat for the Korean Superior Institute of Science & Expertise.
The ACS3 cubesat will reveal deployable booms fabricated from composite supplies that help a photo voltaic sail. As soon as totally deployed, the sail can be practically 30 ft per facet.
If Rocket Lab is ready to transfer ahead with a launch subsequent month, it’ll assist them preserve their tempo towards round 22 launches in 2024, throughout which they are going to be persevering with progress on their Neutron rocket that they hope to fly for the primary time in late 2024 or probably early 2025.
Disclosure: Richard Angle shouldn’t be an RKLB shareholder.
Questions or feedback? How do you assume Rocket Lab will do in 2024? Shoot me an e-mail at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.