Rocket Lab launched a wildlife data-collecting satellite to space Friday (Oct. 7) in a flawless launch in New Zealand.
The mission, nicknamed “It Argos Up From Here”, flew to space from Rocket LabNew Zealand’s location on the Mahia Peninsula in the North Island at 1:09 PM EDT (1709 GMT or 6:09 AM local time October 8).
A livestream from Rocket Lab showed how the kick stage successfully separated from the rocket, and the company announced (opens in new tab) success with satellite deployment on Twitter at 2:06 PM EDT (1806 GMT).
The mission used a Electron rocket to launch the satellite and its payload, made by General Atomics, into orbit. While Rocket Lab aims to make Electron fully reusable, the company had no intention of using the booster again on this occasion.
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Once deployed, the data-gathering payload on the satellite will collect information from sensors used as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) cooperative data and rescue services program, officials of General Atomics said in a release (opens in new tab).
“Argos is an international program that collects data from thousands of sensors and transmitters around the world,” officials wrote. “Currently, data is collected and distributed for use in numerous applications, including ocean buoy tracking, wildlife and fisheries monitoring, and maritime security, as well as non-environmental uses.”
Its wildlife tracking program is what Argos is most famous for, especially for sea turtles and marine mammals, Rocket Lab officials wrote in their press kit for the mission. “There are currently 22,000 active broadcasters around the world monitoring the Argos system, with nearly 7,800 tracking wildlife,” officials said. wrote (opens in new tab).
“It Argos Up From Here” is Rocket Lab’s 31st Electron mission and the first collaboration between Rocket Lab and General Atomics, according to Rocket Lab. The company’s last launch on September 16 lofted the Strix-1 satellite on behalf of Synspective.
This story was updated at 2:40 PM EDT with news of the successful satellite deployment.
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