Rocket Lab conducted its twentieth launch of an Electron rocket, named “Running Out of Toes,” carrying two Earth-observation satellites for BlackSky’s global monitoring constellation. The mission also included a successful attempt to recover an Electron first stage for the second time after a soft splashdown in the Māhia Recovery Zone in the Pacific Ocean.
This flight was the first of four dedicated missions scheduled for this year for BlackSky, a real-time geospatial intelligence and global monitoring services company, working in tandem with Spaceflight Inc providing mission management and payload integration services. Liftoff occurred at 11:11 UTC from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand after just over an hour of delays due to upper level winds.
The mission appeared nominal during first stage flight. However, shortly after stage separation, the second stage briefly ignited and then shut down almost immediately. The stage and payloads were well short of orbital velocity at this point in the mission.