Rocket Lab Launches "Without Mission A Beat" for BlackSky

Electron at the Pad | Credit: Rocket Lab

On Saturday, April 2 at 8:10am ET (12:35 UTC), Rocket Lab launched the "Without Mission a Beat" mission with the 16th and 17th BlackSky satellites from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1A in Mahia, New Zealand. BlackSky is an Earth-observation satellite constellation operated by BlackSky Global which is planned to initially have 60 satellites. This was the last of four dedicated rideshare missions (one of which failed) which Spaceflight, Inc. contracted with Rocket Lab for BlackSky. The next two BlackSky satellites will launch on the second flight of India's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) sometime this year. Rocket Lab is also preparing to launch NASA's CAPSTONE mission to the Moon from LC-1B in May. This was the 35th orbital launch attempt of 2022, the 25th Electron launch, and the 25th Rocket Lab mission.