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Ten new Earth observation satellites have arrived in orbit.
The satellites took off today (October 28) on top of Rocket Lab Electron booster, launched from the company’s New Zealand platform at 5:21 pm EDT (2121 GMT; 10:21 am Oct 29 New Zealand local time).
Nine of the 10 payloads are “SuperDove”, shoebox-sized cubes built by the San Francisco-based imaging company Planet, which operates the largest Earth observation constellation in the world. To date, more than 350 Planet satellites have reached orbit, of which about 150 are currently operational.
Related: Rocket Lab and its electron amplifier (photo)
The vast majority of these satellites are cubesats in the Dove family, which can resolve features up to 10 feet (3 meters) in diameter on the Earth’s surface. These vessels keep an eye on our changing planet in many different ways, providing data to a variety of customers.
Planet also commonly releases particularly important images for free. For example, the company has released orbital photos showing the aftermath of Iranian missile attacks on Iraqi military bases and images that capture damage from earthquakes and other natural disasters.
The tenth payload that has traveled into space today is EC-SAT-IIB, a 78.3 lbs. (35.5 kilograms) microsatellite built by Japanese giant Canon Electronics, Inc. CE-SAT-IIB is a demonstration vehicle that features “a medium-sized telescope equipped with a very high-sensitivity camera to capture nighttime and small-sized images of the Earth telescopes suitable for use with cubes, “Rocket Lab representatives wrote in a description of today’s mission, which the company dubbed “In Focus”.
All 10 satellites are destined for a sun-synchronous orbit (SSW) at an altitude of 310 miles (500 kilometers), a perch that will allow them to view the Earth’s surface in constant solar illumination. The payloads were deployed as scheduled about an hour after launch, Rocket Lab reps said.
“In Focus” continues Rocket Lab’s recovery from a file July 4th launch failed, which resulted in the loss of five SuperDoves and the Canon CE-SAT-IB microsatellite. This failure was caused by a single faulty electrical connection in the upper stage of the two-stage electron, Rocket Lab investigators determined. The booster flew back in August.
Today’s launch was the fifth of 2020 for Electron and the 15th overall for the booster, which is 57 feet (17 meters) tall. Rocket Lab plans to get started recover and reuse the first stages of Electron relatively soon, a change that will allow for higher launch rates, said company founder and CEO Peter Beck.
Rocket Lab tested the reusability technology on recent Electron flights but is not doing so today, according to the “In Focus” press kit, which you can find Here.
Today’s launch was originally scheduled for October 21, but Rocket Lab canceled that attempt later noticing a problem with an oxygen sensor.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 7pm EDT with the news of the successful satellite deployment.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out there“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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