Rocket Lab “We Will Never Desert You” Launch

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Rocket Lab plans to launch an Electron rocket carrying one Capella Space third generation “Acadia” synthetic aperture imaging radar satellite to a 635 km circular low Earth orbit at 53° inclination on 2023-09-19 in a two hour launch window opening at 06:30 UTC. The launch will be from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex-1B on the Māhia Peninsula of New Zealand. This will be the 41st overall launch of the Electron rocket and the 8th of 2023. Payload mass is around 160 kg. Rocket Lab plan to recover the first stage after a parachute splash-down in the Pacific. The last Electron launch flew with one engine reused from an earlier flight, and Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said recently he hopes to fly a future mission with all nine first stage engines reused.

Here is a pre-flight preview from Everyday Astronaut .

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Interestingly, there’s no 2023 investor day on the web site:
https://investors.rocketlabusa.com/events-and-presentations/events/default.aspx

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Live stream now posted and added to the original topic.

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“Anomaly” at stage separation—looks like second stage didn’t light. Velocity began to fall before live feed cut.

Live stream ended.

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