Rocket Lab Electron Make It Rain (Rideshare)
Electron
Status
Success
Date
29 JUN 2019
04:30
Launch Provider
Rocket Lab
Launch Pad
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Mission Overview
Rideshare mission for Spaceflight. Electron will launch seven spacecraft, including a commercial Earth-observing microsatellite for BlackSky, two CubeSats for U.S. Special Operations Command, a pair of tiny prototype data relay nodes for Swarm Technologies, a student-built payload from Australia called ACRUX-1, and a satellite whose identity and owner remain a secret. The mission is named "Make it Rain" in a nod to the high volume of rainfall in Seattle, where Spaceflight is headquartered, as well in New Zealand where Launch Complex 1 is located.
Rocket
Electron
Mission Type
Dedicated Rideshare
Orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Stages
3
Livestream
Rocket Details
Electron is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle (with an optional third stage) developed by the American aerospace company Rocket Lab. Electron is a small-lift launch vehicle designed to launch small satellites and cubesats to sun-synchronous orbit and low earth orbit. The Electron is the first orbital class rocket to use electric-pump-fed engines, powered by the 9 Rutherford engines on the first stage. It is also used as a suborbital testbed (called HASTE) for hypersonics research.
Height
18 m
Diameter
1.2 m
Launch Mass
13 T
Thrust
162 kN
