Posted on 06/12/2020 7:26:03 PM PDT by BenLurkin
In the next 24 hours, no less than three rockets — built by Rocket Lab, SpaceX and Interstellar Technologies — will launch from three different countries in a space age triple-header. But if you want to watch them all online, you're going to need to stay up late (or rise super early).
The action will begin early Saturday (June 13) with the launch of a Rocket Lab Electron booster carrying five small satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and the University of South Wales Canberra Space.
Liftoff is scheduled for 12:43 a.m. EDT (0443 GMT) from Rocket Lab's Launch Site 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. You'll be able to watch the launch live on Space.com here, courtesy of Rocket Lab. The webcast should begin about 20 minutes before launch time. However, Rocket Lab has a nearly two-hour window in which to launch the Electron booster, so the start time could change closer to liftoff.
Rocket Lab will webcast the launch here, as well as on its YouTube channel.
The mission, called "Don't Stop Me Now," will carry three classified satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office; the ANDESITE cubesat built by Boston Universty under NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative; and the M2 Pathfinder communications satellite, which is a a collaboration between the University of New South Wales Canberra Space and the Australian government.
Originally scheduled to fly in March, the "Don't Stop Me Now" mission has been delayed for more two months due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. A launch attempt early Thursday (June 11) was delayed due to high winds.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
You can watch the launch live above, courtesy of NVS-Neko Video Visual Solutions and the Tokachi Mainichi newspaper. You can also watch directly from NVS here.
2 American and 1 Japanese private companies are now pushing the world towards the privatization and commercialization of space. No longer will humanity have to wait for turtle governments slow walking into the future.
50 years wasted.
I watched rocket launches every Saturday morning with rockets by the Acme Corp. Wile E. Coyote was all the time burning the candles on their products.
*ping*
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My kids are wondering why I’m so wound up about watching every SpaceX launch. “My future is now!”
4 minutes to Rocket Lab launch, I think...
That Rocket Lab design is very unique. Probably not scalable but fairly easy ro produce.
Up, up, and away!
Kickstage (3rd stage) heading to orbit...
Nice, smooth launch.
bttt
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