See: Rocket Lab’s first launch since the failed mission

After several weather-related delays, Rocket Lab’s latest launch was successful, with liftoff at 3.05pm today. The second stage and the recoil stage separated smoothly, sending their payload into their intended orbit.

The liftoff, from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, was the company’s fourteenth commercial flight and the first since its failed mission on July 5.

Regulators gave the kiwi-American company the green light to resume operations last month after the cause of the failed flight, a single faulty electrical connection, was identified.

Today’s flight, “I can’t believe it’s not optical,” was a dedicated mission to Capella Space, an information services company that provides Earth observation data on demand, says Rocket Lab.

Capella’s payload, “Sequoia”, is a single 100 kg class microsatellite that will be the first publicly available satellite in the company’s commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation.

By positioning the satellite at a 45-degree tilt, Capella Space will maximize coverage in important areas such as the Middle East, Korea, Japan, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and the United States.

The name of the mission is a nod to Capella’s SAR technology that provides high-quality images of Earth by day or night, and in all weather conditions. Capella’s space radar can detect changes of less than 0.5 meters in the Earth’s surface, providing information and data that can be used for security, agricultural and infrastructure monitoring, as well as disaster response and recovery. .