Just a month after pulling off its first commercial launch to orbit, small satellite launcher Rocket Lab is ready to put tiny probes into space again. The company’s small Electron rocket is slated to take off again from New Zealand sometime in the next week.
And this time, the company’s client is none other than NASA.The plan is to launch 13 research satellites as part of NASA’s ELaNa-19 mission. The spacecraft going up on this flight are all derived from CubeSats, a type of standardized satellite that’s made of 10-centimeter cubes.
Each one has its own unique task, such as studying the radiation belts around Earth or demonstrating new ways to propel vehicles through space. The satellites come from various NASA centers, as well as universities like the University of Florida and West Virginia University.
