rocket lab
On Tuesday, Rocket Lab will try again to send the first payload into orbit from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) in Virginia. With clear skies and a launch window that opens after sunset, the launch could be visible to most of the East Coast and as far west as Ohio.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rockets have a solid track record of launching from New Zealand, but using Virginia is a big step forward for both the company and MARS itself. Having a US-based launch site allows the company to reach orbits not available from New Zealand and opens job opportunities for the US government. Some of them require a domestic launch.
Rocket Lab will be the second major commercial customer for MARS, which is based at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. NASA operated small rockets from that location, and the Orbital ATK flew resupply missions to the International Space Station from there. However, the Electron is a small rocket, can be launched quickly, and can greatly increase traffic from MARS. Perhaps more importantly, Rocket Lab is using Wallops to develop his large, reusable Neutron rocket that will both launch and land on MARS.
Tonight’s launch has a two-hour window starting at 6 PM ET, and if all goes well, it will begin early in that window. A previous attempt he had made in December, but paperwork and weather problems caused him to go past his holiday break.
I’ll embed the live stream here when it’s available.
