Next Up: 2 Dedicated BlackSky Launches with Rocket Lab

November 01, 2021

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We’ve got the green light for two back-to-back dedicated launches in November for our customer, BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) on board Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) Electrons. Both are scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand this month.

Spaceflight provided mission management and integration services for two BlackSky Gen-2 satellites for each mission, in an effort to rapidly expand the geospatial and global monitoring company’s low Earth orbit constellation. These two dedicated missions are part of a multi-launch agreement signed between Rocket Lab and Spaceflight (on behalf of BlackSky) earlier this year.

Two week launch windows open:

• November 11 2021:  Spaceflight’s RL-8 (Rocket Lab’s “Love at First Insight”)
• November 27, 2021: Spaceflight’s RL-10 (Rocket Lab’s “A Data With Destiny”)

We’re actively preparing several other launches for BlackSky on Electron and other LVs, representing a long history of our two companies working closely to support the rapid scaling of BlackSky’s high-resolution Earth-imaging constellation.

In addition to the dedicated Rocket Lab launches, Spaceflight has managed many rideshare missions for BlackSky over the past years, including ISRO’s PSLV-C43 mission and Spaceflight’s SSO-A dedicated Falcon 9 rideshare mission in 2018, Rocket Lab’s “Make It Rain” and “Look Ma, No Hands” missions in 2019, a SpaceX Starlink rideshare mission in 2020, and most recently Rocket Lab’s “They Go Up So Fast” mission earlier this year.

Grant Bonin, senior vice president of business development for Spaceflight recently commented, “For our customers, it’s the combination of the launch options that’s powerful — traditional rideshare, dedication launches, or last mile delivery via one of our Sherpa transportation vehicles. We work closely with each customer to find the most cost-effective option to address their mission needs each and every time they need a launch, leveraging our years of experience and long-standing relationships with the largest portfolio of launch vehicle providers.”

Source : Spaceflight