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Electron | I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical (Capella 2 & First Light)
Rocket LabLaunch Successful

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical (Capella 2 & First Light)

Electron

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Historical mission record

This page records Electron | I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical (Capella 2 & First Light) and its reported outcome: Launch Successful. The date above is a historical record.

Source record updated . This is a source update, not a confirmed launch time.

Check the source: I Can't Believe It's Not Optical ↗ · Launch Library ↗

How to read launch targets and status

Mission status
Launch Successful

Status reported by the mission data provider.

LAUNCH SITERocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Mission

This return to flight mission is dedicated for Capella Space, an information services company providing Earth observation data on demand. Capella’s payload, ‘Sequoia’, is a single 100 kg class microsatellite which will be the first publicly available satellite in the company’s commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation. By positioning the satellite to a 45-degree inclination, Capella Space will maximize coverage over important areas such as the Middle East, Korea, Japan, Europe, South East Asia, Africa, and the U.S. The mission name is a nod to Capella’s SAR technology that provides high quality images of the Earth day or night, and in any weather conditions, as well as a nod to the infamous advertisement campaign for “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”. Capella’s space-based radar can detect sub-0.5 meter changes on the surface of the Earth, providing insights and data that can be used for security, agricultural and infrastructure monitoring, as well as disaster response and recovery.

Launch vehicle
Electron
Mission type
Earth Science
Destination orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Launch pad
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A
Provider
Rocket Lab

The vehicle

Published configuration and flight history.

Electron
Launch vehicle

Electron

Electron is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle (with an optional third stage) developed by the American aerospace company Rocket Lab. Electron is a small-lift launch vehicle designed to launch small satellites and cubesats to sun-synchronous orbit and low earth orbit. The Electron is the first orbital class rocket to use electric-pump-fed engines, powered by the 9 Rutherford engines on the first stage. It is also used as a suborbital testbed (called HASTE) for hypersonics research.

Height
18 m
Diameter
1.2 m
Stages
3
Recorded launches
80
First flight
2017-05-25

Recorded timing

This is a mission record, not an upcoming calendar appointment.

Instantaneous windowPublished target
SCHEDULED MOMENT

A single scheduled moment. The schedule may change before launch.

Launch site & orbit

Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

The mission in perspective

Launch site & orbit

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Understand this orbit
NASA Blue Marble map of Earth's continents and oceans
Representative orbit · accelerated illustrationNo live tracking or simulated ascent. NASA Blue Marble.

Coverage & sources

Links supplied by the mission data provider.
Coverage and times may change.

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