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Rocket Lab Set to Launch its First Payloads for NASA

Accepted submission by takyon at 2018-12-13 02:33:48
Techonomics

Rocket Lab preparing for NASA mission with Electron launch of ELaNa-XIX [nasaspaceflight.com]

Rocket Lab is set to launch their second mission in just over a month on Thursday (local time), in a window opening at 04:07 UTC and lasting until 08:00. The Electron rocket will carry a host of CubeSats for NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program.

The 19th such mission to deploy educational CubeSats into orbit will also be the first mission procured under NASA's Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) program. Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit, and Firefly Aerospace were selected to provide dedicated smallsat launch vehicles to support the increasing role of CubeSats in NASA's research.

Thursday's launch will be the first flight under this program, carrying 13 satellites that will advance various research goals.

Live stream [rocketlabusa.com]. "Rocket Lab is currently targeting no earlier than 04:07 UTC, 13 December 2018 for the NASA ELaNa-19 launch. (17:07 NZDT/20:07 PST/23:07 EST)."


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