US small satellite launch company Rocket Lab has launched its third orbital mission of 2018, successfully deploying satellites to orbit for NASA.
The mission, designated Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)-19 , took place just over a month after Rocket Lab’s last successful orbital launch, ‘It’s Business Time.’ Rocket Lab has launched a total of 24 satellites to orbit in 2018.
On Sunday, December 16, 2018 (UTC) Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle successfully lifted off at 06:33 UTC (19:33 NZDT) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s M?hia Peninsula. After being launched to an elliptical orbit, Electron’s Curie engine-powered kick stage separated from the vehicle’s second stage, before circularizing to a 500×500 km orbit at an 85 degree inclination. By 56 minutes into the mission, the 13 satellites on board were individually deployed to their precise, designated orbits.
Until now, launch opportunities for small satellites have mostly been limited to rideshare-type arrangements, flying only when space is available on large launch vehicles. This mission, awarded under a Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) Agreement, marks the first time NASA CubeSats received a dedicated ride to orbit on a commercial launch vehicle. VCLS is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program headquartered at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says the ELaNa-19 mission represents a forward-thinking approach from NASA to acquiring launch services and recognizes the increasingly significant role small satellites are playing in exploration, technology demonstration, research and education.
“The ELaNa-19 mission was a significant one for NASA, the Rocket Lab team and the small satellite industry overall. To launch two missions just five weeks apart, and in the first year of orbital flights, is unprecedented. It’s exactly what the small satellite industry desperately needs, and Rocket Lab is proud to be delivering it. Regular and reliable launch is now a reality for small satellites. The wait is over,” says Rocket Lab CEO and founder Peter Beck. “We’re providing small satellite customers with more control than they’ve ever had, enabling them to launch on their own schedule, to precise orbits, as frequently as they need to.”
NASA ELaNa-19 Mission Manager Justin Treptow adds, “The CubeSats of ELaNa-19 represent a large variety of scientific objectives and technology demonstrations. With this the first launch of a Venture Class Launch Service on the Rocket Lab Electron, NASA now has an option to match our small satellite missions with a dedicated small launch vehicle to place these satellites in an optimal orbit to achieve big results.”
The ELaNa-19 launch webcast can be viewed in full at http://youtu.be/F7Kr3664hJs and images from the mission are available in the media library at www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/link-to-rocket-lab-imagery-and-video
The next Rocket Lab Electron vehicle will be on the pad at Launch Complex 1 in January 2019. For real-time updates and mission announcements, follow Rocket Lab on Twitter @RocketLab.
Attached image: Please credit Trevor Mahlmann/ Rocket Lab
About Rocket Lab:
Rocket Lab develops and launches advanced rocket technology to provide rapid and repeatable access to orbit for small satellites. Our mission is to open access to space to improve life on Earth. Rocket Lab has developed the world’s first fully carbon composite orbital launch vehicle, Electron, which is powered by 3D printed, electric pump-fed engines. Electron is a two-stage vehicle capable of delivering payloads of 150 kg to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit. Rocket Lab also operates the world’s only private orbital launch site, Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, which is licensed to launch every 72 hours.
Rocket Lab has conducted three successful orbital launches of the Electron vehicle in 2018, deploying customer payloads to orbit and ushering in a new era of access to space for small satellites. Founded in 2006 by Peter Beck, Rocket Lab is headquartered in Los Angeles and is a privately funded company with investors including Khosla Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC (Data Collective), Promus Ventures, Future Fund, Greenspring Associates, Lockheed Martin and K1W1.
