Rocket Lab's 'Electron' Marks First Orbital-Class Launch From aPrivate Pad

Poor Mookie. The CEO of the company doesn't know what he's talking
about and Mookie knows better.

Phew, what a loony.

William Mook wrote:

McCall takes everything out of context, which is usual for him.

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/latest/

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/latest/...it-to-space-2/

This FIRST LAUNCH of the Electron was a TEST LAUNCH. Orbit would have been nice to achieve and was a goal, but wasn't achieved in this case. Had it been achieved, without major mishap, dropping one test launch, would have been nice for the budget. However, a lot of BS is spun out as fact around sci.space - largely due to people like McCall taking things out of context.

Fact: RocketLab already has commercial clients.

Fact: RocketLab is planning two more TEST launches in the THREE LAUNCH TEST SEQUENCE prior to committing to its FIRST COMMERCIAL LAUNCH, WHICH IS ALREADY BOOKED.

Fact: RocketLab is committed to a programme of continuous improvement that allows it to adjust its digital tooling and rapid production chain to take advantage of lessons learned.

lol.

As the man once said, You ain't seen nothin' yet!

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Mini-satellites of immense capacity!

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Some very exciting commercial payloads are forthcoming putting New Zealand in a very strong position to participate in the small satellite marketplace and delivering very interesting capabilities.

One is a lunar landing and return robot previously described, that provides;

(1) lunar video
(2) lunar photogrammetry
(3) lunar payload delivery (and return)
(4) lunar sample return (jewelry)

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Another is a deep space Li-Fi network

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https://energy.gov/eere/solar/downlo...-concentrators

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep14758

Another is a 3 MW laser based solar power satellite

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Another is a 1.25 MW laser based solar power satellite - AT MARS

Giving routine delivery and return of 150 kg payloads to and from Mars orbit and Deimos and Phobos - and providing communications and live access to users anywhere.

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http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...78/18/6/063002

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1251612/

A Li-Fi based telecommunications system, that provides broadband from deep space, in GEO, Earth Moon Lagrange Points, and Sol Earth Lagrange Points - Sol Mars Lagrange Points - Deimos and Phobos - combined with advanced AI for mission planning and control - provide a sound basis for deep space missions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_...ation_in_space

Li-Fi routers on orbit that provide uplink downlink using 802.11a virtual cells doppler corrected and stationary relative to the Earth's surface, despite being 'painted' by moving satellites, provide free global mesh net discoverable by any device with wi-fi or bluetooth capability.

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MEMS Based Ion Engine

http://www.accion-systems.com/accion-tech/

For high efficiency, deep space booster, using a solar pumped electro-spray ion engine, and a laser pumped electro-spray ion engine that's powered from a solar pumped laser satellite re, form the basis of a deep space stage of immense capacity.

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http://lasermotive.com/

A solar pumped laser power satellite that beams energy to receivers on Earth using a conjugate optics to maintain safe reliable precise tracking.