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First Light is the first operational satellite that Rocket Lab has designed, built and launched into orbit.
The space company Rocket Lab says it has launched New Zealand’s first operational satellite into orbit.
The satellite named ‘First Light’ is the first operational satellite designed and built in-house by Rocket Lab.
Manufactured primarily in New Zealand, First Light was sent into orbit on Rocket Lab’s fourteenth mission of its Electron rocket from its launch site on the Mahia Peninsula on August 31.
The satellite was deployed as part of another satellite mission called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical” for a US company, yet Rocket Lab kept a secret that it had its own special payload on board.
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About 60 minutes after liftoff, its Electron rocket deployed a 100 kilogram microsatellite to Capella Space, an action that would typically signal the successful completion of a standard Rocket Lab mission.
However, shortly after implementing the payload, Rocket Lab performed a completely new operation for the first time.
Engineers sent a command to activate the Kick Stage, a powerful additional stage, where their Photon spacecraft becomes a satellite to continue an independent mission.
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Rocket Lab has launched the first satellite built in New Zealand into orbit. The satellite called “First Light” was deployed on August 31.
Photon, which weighs around 50kg, features deep-space-capable communications, navigation and propulsion technology capable of restarting multiple times in orbit.
The First Light mission is an initial demonstration of new capabilities such as power management and thermal control.
Rocket Lab is testing its systems in preparation for future planned missions in low Earth orbit, as well as to the Moon and Venus.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said the mission demonstrated that it had simplified the satellite process.
“The launch of the first Photon mission marks a major turning point for space users; now it’s easier to launch and operate a space mission than ever, ”said Beck.
The Electron and Photon missions eliminated the complexity, risk and delays that customers faced by having to build their own satellite hardware and pay for a separate launch, he said.
