On Sunday, August 11, Rocket Lab successfully launched its 10th mission of the year, sending an Earth-observing radar satellite into orbit for Capella Space. The Electron vehicle lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site at 9:18 a.m. EDT and deployed the spacecraft, called Acadia-3, about 57 minutes later into a circular orbit 382 miles above Earth.
Image Credit: Rocket Lab
The mission, dubbed "A Sky Full of SARS," marks Rocket Lab's fifth launch for Capella Space, whose satellites provide sharp imagery of Earth in all weather conditions. Capella Space's synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology offers frequent and timely information affecting various industries worldwide, including defense, supply chain, insurance, and maritime.
"Capella Space provides easy access to frequent and timely information affecting dozens of industries worldwide, including defense and intelligence, supply chain, insurance, maritime and others," Rocket Lab wrote in the press kit for Sunday's mission.
"Its market-leading SAR satellites are matched with unparalleled data infrastructure to quickly deliver reliable global insights that sharpen our understanding of the changing world — improving decisions about commerce, conservation and security on Earth," Rocket Lab added.
Artistic rendition of the Acade-3 SAR smallsat on-orbit, courtesy of Capella Space
Capella is an American space tech company with data and satellite solutions for government and commercial applications. Capella’s high-quality, high-resolution SAR imagery penetrates all weather conditions and captures clear imagery 24/7, day and night, anywhere on Earth, delivered through a fully-automated ordering and delivery platform. Capella’s existing SAR capabilities includes long-dwell imaging and extended duty-cycle — which results in more images collected per orbit than any other SAR systems. Acadia will augment Capella’s existing constellation with increased bandwidth and power, faster downlink speeds, and reduced latency.
Rocket Lab aims to make Electron's first stage reusable, having recovered boosters from the sea multiple times and reflown an engine on a previous mission. However, no recovery operations were performed on "A Sky Full of SARS." This launch marks Rocket Lab's 52nd orbital mission overall.
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