Electron | I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical (Capella 2 & First Light)
Rocket Lab · Electron · Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Rocket Lab's 14th launch · 4th this year · humanity's 5,988th orbital launch attempt
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
Window: Aug 31, 03:05 – Aug 31, 03:05 UTC
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I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical (Capella 2 & First Light)
This return to flight mission is dedicated for Capella Space, an information services company providing Earth observation data on demand. Capella’s payload, ‘Sequoia’, is a single 100 kg class microsatellite which will be the first publicly available satellite in the company’s commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation. By positioning the satellite to a 45-degree inclination, Capella Space will maximize coverage over important areas such as the Middle East, Korea, Japan, Europe, South East Asia, Africa, and the U.S. The mission name is a nod to Capella’s SAR technology that provides high quality images of the Earth day or night, and in any weather conditions, as well as a nod to the infamous advertisement campaign for “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”. Capella’s space-based radar can detect sub-0.5 meter changes on the surface of the Earth, providing insights and data that can be used for security, agricultural and infrastructure monitoring, as well as disaster response and recovery.
Earth Science · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
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Pad — Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A
Local pad time: Aug 31, 3:05 PM GMT+12
41 launches from this pad · 78 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
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