Loading photos...
Loading mission resources...
Watch
Live coverage
Stream links and embedded coverage.
Loading related events...
Loading vehicle timeline...
Loading related news...
Loading
TMinusZero
Loading
Preparing the latest launch data.
TMinusZero
Loading
Preparing the latest launch data.
Launch Detail
Loading launch detail
Pulling launch timing, vehicle context, weather signals, and mission evidence.
Launch detail
Rocket Lab • Electron • Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B (NA)
Top answer
NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) is a technology demonstration mission tasked with deploying a composite boom solar sail. NeonSat-1 is a high-resolution optical satellite by South Korea's KAIST that will be deployed as a technology demonstration for a planned future Earth observation constellation.
Last refreshed: Apr 28, 2024, 4:56 PM GMT+12. T-Minus Zero keeps this as the canonical launch record and reconciles schedule, mission, payload, media, and provider signals when those records are available.
Live targets are highlighted across the sequence.
Stream links and embedded coverage.
Premium keeps the launch-by-launch change log visible so you can review slips, window edits, and status changes without waiting for an error-driven upgrade prompt.
Free-to-share photography matched to this launch. Tap a photo to view it at full resolution.
Beginning of the SwarmLinked via Spaceflight News API (SNAPI).
ArticleNow that its reflective sail has deployed fully open in orbit, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System can be seen in the night sky from many loca...
ArticleRocket Lab successfully launched the “Beginning of the Swarm” mission, its 47th overall yesterday. Electron took the skies at 10:32 am NZT...
ArticleRocket Lab launched a South Korean smallsat and a NASA solar sail experiment on the company’s fifth flight of the year April 23.
ArticleA potential new way to travel through space launched aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 located on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.
ArticleDuring the last full week of April, forthcoming launches include two Starlink missions planned on Monday and Friday, and another two more Falcon 9 flights li...
ArticleRocket Lab is readying for its next launch no earlier than April 24th from Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula in...
NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) is a technology demonstration mission tasked with deploying a composite boom solar sail. NeonSat-1 is a high-resolution optical satellite by South Korea's KAIST that will be deployed as a technology demonstration for a planned future Earth observation constellation.
Alternate mission URLs consolidate to this canonical launch record so exact mission timing, status, media, and source context stay on one page.
Use these internal paths to move from this exact launch record into the provider, vehicle, launch-site, schedule, and mission-family pages that own broader context.
This launch currently has no dedicated mission-family hub, so provider, vehicle, site, and canonical record links are the primary internal paths.
Key structured fields for this launch record are grouped here so the page answers mission, payload, orbit, provider, source, and timing questions before the deeper tracking and media sections.
This record is preserved as historical launch context. The page emphasizes what was launched, the vehicle and pad involved, published outcome/status fields, linked programs, and source records instead of treating the mission like an upcoming countdown.
Open the launch pad in Google Maps satellite mode using the pad coordinates.
NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) is a technology demonstration mission tasked with deploying a composite boom solar sail. NeonSat-1 is a high-resolution optical satellite by South Korea's KAIST that will be deployed as a technology demonstration for a planned future Earth observation constellation.
Electron is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle (with an optional third stage) developed by the American aerospace company Rocket Lab. Electron is a small-lift launch vehicle designed to launch small satellites and cubesats to sun-synchronous orbit and low earth orbit. The Electron is the first orbital class rocket to use electric-pump-fed engines, powered by the 9 Rutherford engines on the first stage. It is also used as a suborbital testbed (called HASTE) for hypersonics research.
Rocket Lab is an American aerospace manufacturer with a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary. The company develops lightweight, cost-effective commercial rocket launch services. The Electron Program was founded on the premise that small payloads such as CubeSats require dedicated small launch vehicles and flexibility not currently offered by traditional rocket systems. Its rocket, the Electron, is a light-weight rocket and is now operating commercially. The company is also producing a variety of spacecrafts and spacecrafts components.
a0300ec187e54857a62d54a606b3842c6dc4d9ca665d3424757956bcea206d93Provider, rocket, pad, and booster history tied to this launch.