Space Commerce

Rocket Lab Prepares for 40th Electron Launch

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
Rocket Lab
July 28, 2023
Filed under , ,
Rocket Lab Prepares for 40th Electron Launch
Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, is scheduled to launch its 40th Electron mission as early as Sunday 30 July UTC.

The mission will lift-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and is scheduled for launch between:

NZST: 17:00 – 19:00, July 30
UTC: 05:00 – 07:00, July 30
EDT: 01:00 – 03:00, July 30
PDT: 22:00 – 24:00, July 29

The mission, named ‘We Love the Nightlife,’ will deploy a spacecraft for American space tech company Capella Space (Capella), a leading provider of commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery. The mission will deliver the first of Capella’s next generation ‘Acadia’ Earth observation satellites.

‘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, and the ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical’ mission in August 2020 from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, which deployed the first satellite in Capella’s SAR constellation.

‘We Love the Nightlife’ will be Rocket Lab’s eighth Electron mission for the year and the Company’s 40th Electron overall.

The mission will be live streamed at www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream. For real time updates on launch day, follow Rocket Lab on Twitter @RocketLab. Images and videos will be available for download on Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjANcH8

  • 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. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.

  • 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. Learn more at www.capellaspace.com.

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.