Rocket Lab's Return-to-Flight Electron Launch: Live Coverage and Moon God Awakens
Rocket Lab successfully launched its Electron rocket, marking its return to flight after a failure in September. The mission, named "The Moon God Awakens," carried the Tsukuyomi-1 synthetic-aperture radar satellite for Japan-based Earth imaging company iQPS. The satellite will be part of a constellation aimed at monitoring fixed points on Earth every 10 minutes. Rocket Lab plans to have a total of 36 satellites deployed by 2025. This launch is the tenth flight of an Electron rocket in 2023, surpassing the company's previous record of nine launches in 2022. Rocket Lab has booked 22 launches for 2024, with nine of them being recovery missions. The company has addressed the issue that caused the September failure and implemented corrective actions to prevent similar failures in the future.