On Friday, December 15, Rocket Lab successfully launched the Japanese Tsukuyomi-1 satellite into space.
This was reported by Space.com, as reported by Ukrinform.
The Electron launch vehicle was launched from the spaceport in New Zealand at 06:00 Kiev time. The rocket also included the Japanese Tsukuyomi-1 satellite belonging to the iQPS Earth observation company.
In total, iQPS plans to put 36 satellites into orbit capable of monitoring specific points on Earth every 10 minutes.
Today’s mission went according to plan, with Electron placing Tsukuyomi-1 into low Earth orbit approximately 56.5 minutes after launch.
This was Rocket Lab’s first launch since September 19. Then, the Electron mission failed about 2.5 minutes into the flight, resulting in the loss of one of San Francisco-based Capella Space’s Earth observation satellites. However, the company was able to detect the problem and fix it fairly quickly.
Today’s launch was the 42nd launch of the Electron launch vehicle, which sends small satellites into Earth orbit and beyond.
China launched a new remote sensing satellite into space on Sunday, December 10, Ukrinform reported.
Photo: Rocket Lab