Science & Tech · Space · 6 hrs ago
Rocket Lab schedules its 100th space mission for Nov. 14
Rocket Lab plans to launch its 100th mission early on Nov.
14 from its New Zealand launch site.
The Electron rocket will carry a satellite for Japanese company iQPS, which is building a network of Earth-observing spacecraft.
Rocket Lab began launching in 2017, and Electron has since carried small payloads into orbit for different customers.
The company says its first 99 launches had a 96% reliability rate, and no commercially developed rocket reached 100 missions faster.
The iQPS satellite uses radar to image Earth through clouds and at night, when ordinary optical imaging has limits.
The launch is scheduled to begin at 12:30 a.m.
EST, with a live broadcast expected; if successful, the satellite will be released about 575 kilometers above Earth.
Rocket Lab scheduled its 100th space mission for early Nov. 14, with an Electron rocket carrying a Japanese Earth-observing satellite.
The launch window was set to open at 12:30 a.m. EST from the company’s New Zealand launch site.
The mission, named “The Mountain God Rises,” is the company’s 11th launch for Tokyo-based satellite operator iQPS.
Rocket Lab said it had achieved a 96% reliability rate across its previous 99 launches.
If successful, Electron’s upper stage will deploy the satellite 357 miles above Earth.
- Who
- Rocket Lab, with a satellite for Tokyo-based iQPS.
- What
- The company scheduled its 100th space mission, using an Electron rocket to carry an Earth-observing satellite.
- When
- Early Nov. 14; the launch window was scheduled to open at 12:30 a.m. EST.
- Where
- Rocket Lab’s launch site in New Zealand.
- Why
- The mission is part of iQPS’s effort to build a constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Rocket Lab launched Electron for the first time on a test flight from New Zealand, but the effort failed.
Electron’s second-ever liftoff delivered several cubesats to low Earth orbit.
Peter Beck cited Rocket Lab’s milestone and reliability rate during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
Rocket Lab scheduled the 100th mission to launch from New Zealand, with the window opening at 12:30 a.m. EST.
- Mission
- The Mountain God Rises
- Rocket
- Electron
- Milestone
- Rocket Lab’s 100th space mission
- Launch window
- 12:30 a.m. EST on Nov. 14
- Payload
- One iQPS synthetic aperture radar satellite
- Target altitude
- 357 miles (575 kilometers) above Earth
What people are saying
It's an unprecedented milestone for a commercial small-lift orbital rocket, and a threshold rarely crossed in modern spaceflight
But what matters most to us and our customers is that we have achieved a 96% reliability rate across 99 launches
Black rocket 🤝 Golden milestone. Electron is all dressed up for launch 100
Posts on X
Black rocket 🤝 Golden milestone. Electron is all dressed up for launch 100.