Rocket Lab Launches 112th Satellite to Orbit

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Rocket Lab USA, Inc, a leading launch and space systems company, has successfully deployed two satellites to orbit for real-time geospatial intelligence company BlackSky, bringing the total number of satellites deployed by Rocket Lab to 112.

The ‘Without Mission A Beat’ mission, arranged for BlackSky through global launch services provider Spaceflight Inc., was Electron’s 25th lift-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. Following lift-off at 12:41 UTC, April 2, Electron successfully delivered the pair of BlackSky Gen-2 Earth-imaging satellites to a circular 430km orbit, growing BlackSky’s constellation of real-time geospatial monitoring spacecraft to 14.

BlackSky combines the power of its satellite constellation, that provides high-frequency monitoring of the most strategic and critical locations in the world, with its high-performance software platform, Spectra AI, to deliver real-time alerts, data, and information to decision-makers across a range of industries. BlackSky’s commissioning process for these latest two satellites is now underway to bring them into service as quickly as possible. The last pair of BlackSky satellites deployed by Rocket Lab began commercial operations and generated revenue within six days of launch.

Today’s mission, in addition to three Rocket Lab launches for BlackSky and Spaceflight in 2021, is part of a multi-launch agreement that represents the largest number of satellites BlackSky has dedicated to a single launch provider to date. Rocket Lab is contracted to launch another pair of BlackSky satellites on a dedicated Electron mission scheduled for later this year.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, says: “Congratulations and welcome to space once again, BlackSky. The past few missions for BlackSky showcase the benefits of a dedicated launch on Electron: quick constellation expansion, streamlined access to space, and fast delivery of global insights to BlackSky customers. Rocket Lab is proud to play its part.” 

“The launch of these latest two satellites enhances our capacity-on-demand offering for customers,” said Nick Merski, BlackSky Chief Operations Officer. “We continue to build on our strategic intelligence advantage as we expand our constellation, ensuring commercial and our government customers are the first to know about the changes that matter most to them.”