A picture perfect launch!

Photo credits: Rocket Lab

At 9:37 p.m. PST last Friday, the RL-1 mission, dubbed Make It Rain, lifted off from Launch Complex 1 on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island in beautiful weather.  It was out first rideshare mission with Rocket Lab, and the first of five we have scheduled with them this year.  

The view back to the launch complex from Electron was stunning. (Photo credit: Rocket Lab)

Aboard were seven spacecraft from five fantastic customers including BlackSky’s Global-3, two U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Prometheus, Melbourne Space Program’s ACRUX-1, and two Swarm SpaceBEEs. 

All spacecraft were successfully deployed. 

If you missed the live webcast of the launch or want to watch it again (and again), here’s the link: https://youtu.be/idKCy8LdyKo

Til next time!