Rocket Lab launched a pair of Electron rockets with 24 hours of each other Nov. 24, a first for the company.

One Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, at 1 a.m. Eastern. That launch used a suborbital version of the rocket, called Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE), intended for use in hypersonic testing.

Rocket Lab followed the HASTE mission with an orbital launch of Electron from its Launch Complex 1B in New Zealand at 10:55 p.m. Eastern Nov. 24. The rocket successfully deployed into orbit a third set of five satellites for French company Kinéis, which is deploying a constellation to provide Internet of Things connectivity services.

The two launches marked the fastest turnaround time between launches in the company’s history, which previously had been about a week. The company added that this is also, to its knowledge, the first time a single launch operator carried out two launches in different hemispheres within 24 hours.

“That’s unprecedented capability in the small launch market and one we’re immensely proud to deliver at Rocket Lab,” Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said in a statement.

With these two launches, Rocket Lab has conducted 14 Electron launches so far this year. While the company originally projected as many as 22 launches this year, Beck said in a Nov. 12 earnings call that the company was maintaining revised guidance of 15 to 18 Electron launches for the year. “The customers are looking good, so I think we’ll be within that range,” he said.

Ice AIS Baby

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-11-25 03:55 | |

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| | Scheduled for (NZDT) | 2024-11-25 16:55 | | Launch site | Rocket Lab LC-1B, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand | | Booster recovery | No | | Launch vehicle | Electron + Curie | | Customer | Kinéis | | Payload | Kinéis 11-15 | | Mission success criteria | Successful deployment of spacecraft into desired orbit |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | Rocket Lab (official) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i081vyh3WO0 | | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJmOFs5kZ0s | | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fps-ilnHsEM |

Stats

• This will be the 14th launch for Rocket Lab this year.
• This will be the 56th overall launch for Rocket Lab.

Payload info:

Rocket Lab mission page

NextSpaceflight:

Third batch of five satellites for the French Kinéis IoT constellation designed to operate with 25 nanosatellites of 30 kg each. The constellation will enable Kinéis, a company backed by private and public investors including the French government’s space agency CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) and CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites) an international space-based solutions provider, to improve its global IoT connectivity.

Previous mission: Leidos Mission 2

Next mission: TBD

Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here! Also feel free to leave feedback or suggestions for the mod team. We’re a relatively new community, so feedback is very valuable!

Leidos Mission 2

Well folks, it's time for another Rocket Lab launch, suborbital this time!

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-11-24 06:00 | |

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| | Scheduled for (local, EST) | 2024-11-24 01:00 | | Scheduled for (NZDT) | 2024-11-24 19:00 | | Launch site | Rocket Lab LC-2 (LP-0C), Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA | | Booster recovery | No | | Launch vehicle | Electron (suborbital HASTE variant) | | Customer | USA Department of Defense | | Payload | Undisclosed |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | Rocket Lab (official) | none | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/user/SEL9000/streams | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/@TheLaunchPad/streams | WAI Plus | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxoSsks7hDc | Reality PC | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3xpCwY9ROc | pat o. | Stream 1, stream 2, stream 3 |

Stats

• This will be the 13th launch for Rocket Lab this year.
• This will be the 55th overall launch for Rocket Lab.

Payload info:

• Rocket Lab mission page
• FCC document
• NASA document
• NextSpaceflight
• NASASpaceflight article

The Leidos Mission 2 will be Rocket Lab’s second of four missions for the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed (MACH-TB) program. The MACH-TB program was created by the Department of Defense (DoD) to reduce hypersonic risks and swiftly transition to innovative technologies. The payload is expected to be an experimental hypersonic glide body, although the details of the payload remain classified. The first Leidos mission for the MACH-TB program flew on June 17, 2023.

The booster for this mission is a Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE), a modified Electron optimized for hypersonic testing using custom fairings and a modified kick stage. The rocket launches the payload on a suborbital trajectory, providing acceleration towards hypersonic speeds, or over five times the speed of sound.

Previous mission: Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

Next mission: Ice AIS Baby

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Defense giant Lockheed Martin announced Nov. 19 that its new mid-size satellite platform will make its orbital debut next year aboard a Firefly Aerospace rocket.

The LM 400 satellite bus — roughly the size of a household refrigerator — represents Lockheed’s bid to capture a sweet spot in the satellite market: missions requiring more power and payload capacity than small satellites can provide, but not demanding the complexity of traditional large satellites.

RocketLab have posted an opening for a Recovery Engineering Intern:

As a Recovery Engineering Intern based at Rocket Lab’s site in Long Beach, California, you will have the opportunity to support the Neutron Recovery Team in designing Recovery and Marine Transportation hardware for Neutron.

Another confirmation that they are planning drone ship landings for Neutron in addition to RTLS landings.

Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-11-05 10:54 | |

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| | Scheduled for (NZDT) | 2024-11-05 23:54 | | Launch site | Rocket Lab LC-1B, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand | | Booster recovery | No | | Launch vehicle | Electron + Curie | | Customer | Undisclosed | | Payload | Unknown | | Mission success criteria | Successful deployment of spacecraft into Sun-Synchronous Orbit |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | Rocket Lab (official) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pku19e-MHis | | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM7lgn4ISvQ | | The Launch Pad | |

Stats

• This will be the 12th launch for Rocket Lab this year.
• This will be the 54th overall launch for Rocket Lab.

Payload info:

Rocket Lab mission page

NextSpaceflight:

Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

Launch of a yet to identified satellite to SSO for an undisclosed customer. The customer is suspected to be Low Earth Orbit communication satellite constellation operator E-Space. Launch contract was signed less than 2 months before launch.

Previous mission: Kinéis Killed The RadIoT Star

Next mission: Leidos Mission 2

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“We’re excited to bid this time round for NSSL Lane 1, and we think Neutron is a really good vehicle for it,” Rocket Lab’s founder and CEO Peter Beck told SpaceNews.

The U.S. Space Force last week released a request for proposals from launch companies seeking to challenge SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin in the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program.

The NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 program is structured as an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, enabling the Space Force to on-ramp providers on a yearly basis, and award individual task orders as needed.

The Space Force requires the next round of Lane 1 bidders to be ready for a first launch by December 2025, a timeline Beck says Neutron can meet.

We've got some more details on RocketLab's MSR proposal:

The company’s concept centers around two Neutron rockets, one launching an Earth Return Orbiter and another launching a lander carrying the Mars Ascent Vehicle.

The lander would retrieve up to 30 sample tubes from NASA’s Perseverance rover, which has been on the Martian surface since 2021, and launch them into orbit, where the Earth Return Orbiter would capture them for the journey back. Rocket Lab said it would aim to return samples as early as 2031 for under $2 billion.

https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1840143678171689435

Things have been heating up at Stennis 🔥

The Archimedes engine development and qualification campaign continues to progress well with lots of hot fires taking the engine through various operating conditions and tweaks.

Kinéis Killed The RadIoT Star

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-09-20 23:01 | |

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| | Scheduled for (NZST) | 2024-09-21 11:01 | | Launch site | Rocket Lab LC-1A, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand | | Booster recovery | No | | Launch vehicle | Electron + Curie | | Customer | Kinéis | | Payload | Kinéis 6-10 | | Mission success criteria | Successful deployment of spacecraft into desired orbit |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | Rocket Lab (official) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beVTGh_PrA0 (scrub) | | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDMBcSt4PUo (scrub) | | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87oFE1ZmRck (scrub) |

Stats

• This will be the 11th launch for Rocket Lab this year.
• This will be the 53rd overall launch for Rocket Lab.

Payload info:

Rocket Lab mission page

NextSpaceflight:

Second batch of five satellites for the French Kinéis IoT constellation designed to operate with 25 nanosatellites of 30 kg each. The constellation will enable Kinéis, a company backed by private and public investors including the French government’s space agency CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) and CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites) an international space-based solutions provider, to improve its global IoT connectivity.

Previous mission: A Sky Full Of SARs

Next mission: Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here! Also feel free to leave feedback or suggestions for the mod team. We’re a relatively new community, so feedback is very valuable!

Peter Beck shares a photo of the factory.

Source: https://x.com/Peter_J_Beck/status/1830782638136926332

AFP: Automated (carbon) Fibre Placement

A Sky Full Of SARs

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-08-11 13:18 | |

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| | Scheduled for (NZST) | 2024-08-12 01:18 | | Launch site | Rocket Lab LC-1B, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand | | Booster recovery | No | | Launch vehicle | Electron + Curie | | Customers | Capella Space | | Payload | Acadia-3 | | Mission success criteria | Successful deployment of spacecraft into desired orbit |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | Rocket Lab (official) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFH0ZS2GHd8 | | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1EIRGMhgWg | | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKC0aVLJvas |

Stats

• This will be the 10th launch for Rocket Lab this year.
• This will be the 52nd overall launch for Rocket Lab.

Payload info:

Rocket Lab mission page

NextSpaceflight:

Acadia-3

Capella Space introduced its latest generation of satellites named "Acadia", which offer increased imaging capability and improved communications connectivity. These satellites are smaller and lighter than previous models, but offer higher resolution and detection capabilities, enabling better Earth observation and more accurate decision-making.

Capella Space's new generation of satellites feature synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology, which allows them to capture images of the Earth in all weather conditions and at any time of the day or night. In addition, these satellites have enhanced communication capabilities, allowing them to transmit data and images faster and more efficiently.

Previous mission: Owl For One, One For Owl

Next mission: Kinéis Killed The RadIoT Star

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Some more info on the recent engine tests.

Peter Beck on twitter:

Archimedes has been breathing fire! Started at low power and now cranking it up.