Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today announced it has scheduled its next Electron launch during a window that opens 28 July 2023 NZST/UTC.
The ‘We Love the Nightlife’ mission is scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula for American space tech company Capella Space (Capella), a leading provider of commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery.
‘We Love the Nightlife’ will be Rocket Lab’s third launch for Capella following the successful “Stronger Together” mission launched in March 2023 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 in Virginia, USA, and the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical” mission in August 2020 from Launch Complex 1, which deployed the first satellite in Capella’s SAR constellation.
‘We Love the Nightlife’ will be the first of four new dedicated launches on Electron for Capella, announced in February 2023, to deploy Capella’s next-generation SAR Earth-imaging satellites called Acadia.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said: “Electron was the trusted launch vehicle for Capella’s first publicly available satellite when we launched their mission in 2020, so it's an honor once again to be entrusted with launching the first of their next generation Acadia satellites. Reaching 40 Electron launches is a wonderful milestone for our team members who have built the most reliable small launch vehicle in history and we’re delighted to share such a significant launch with our long-standing mission partner Capella.”
“We are proud to partner with Rocket Lab to introduce Capella’s third-generation Acadia satellite technology to the world,” said Payam Banazadeh, founder and CEO of Capella Space. “Acadia is a reflection of our commitment to technology innovation and will preserve our track record of delivering high-quality and low latency SAR imagery to customers anywhere in the world.”
Capella’s satellites deliver high quality, high resolution SAR imagery capable of penetrating all weather conditions and capturing clear imagery 24-7, day and night, anywhere on Earth, delivered through Capella’s fully-automated ordering and delivery platform. The next-generation Acadia satellites include a number of enhancements to Capella’s existing constellation, including increased bandwidth and power and faster downlink speeds. When combined with Capella’s existing long-dwell imaging capability and extended duty-cycle – which results in more images collected per orbit than other SAR systems – Acadia will continue to set the benchmark within the SAR industry.
All four upcoming Electron missions will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, each deploying a single Acadia satellite to a 640 km mid-inclination orbit, expanding the existing Capella Space SAR constellation and providing more rapid revisit across diverse regions around the Earth. Each Capella Space satellite will also be supported by a Rocket Lab-manufactured Advanced Lightband: separation systems for each satellite to attach to and deploy from Electron once launched to orbit.
About Rocket Lab
Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle and the Photon satellite platform and is developing the Neutron 13-ton payload class launch vehicle. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 170 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft platform has been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third launch pad in Virginia, USA.
About Capella Space
Capella Space is an information services company that provides on-demand, industry-leading, high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation imagery. Through a constellation of small satellites, Capella provides easy access to frequent, timely, and flexible information affecting dozens of industries worldwide. Capella’s high-resolution SAR satellites are matched with unparalleled infrastructure to deliver reliable global insights that sharpen our understanding of the changing world – improving decisions about commerce, conservation, and security on Earth.