The mission "Stronger Together" carried two Synthetic Aperture Radar commercial satellites from U.S. manufacturer Capella Space into orbit on Thursday evening. The Electron booster lifted off shortly after 6:30 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, located in Wallops Island, Va.
The Capella Space satellites were deployed from Electron at about 8 p.m. EST, Rocket Lab tweeted.
Rocket Lab confirmed on Twitter that Electron's nosecone successfully separated minutes after launch and its second stage engine had shut down.
Thursday's launch was also the second mission for Rocket Lab's Electron booster. The satellites are meant to enhance radar capabilities for Capella Space by capturing high-quality images that can be delivered quickly, the press release from Rocket Lab said. NASA Wallops tweeted that launch conditions were 95% favorable. Residents of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire could see the rocket under the right weather conditions.
Rocket Lab said it will not attempt to retrieve the Electron booster. The booster is 60-feet tall and is capable of 50,400 pounds of thrust, according to Spaceflight Now.
Thursday's launch follows a successful mission by Rocket Lab in January. That mission sent three commercial satellites into Earth's orbit for satellite company HawkEye 360.
Capella Space has partnered with Rocket Lab on a mission one time before but it was not launched from U.S. soil.
Capella Space is based in San Francisco.
Related Links
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
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