Rocket Lab launches mystery satellite to orbit for secret customer (photo)
Rocket Lab launched an Earth-observation satellite to orbit for a confidential customer on Thursday night (Sept. 10), without providing a livestream or many details about the mission.
Rocket Lab launched an unnamed satellite into orbit on Thursday, September 10th, from its New Zealand site. The mission, called "Happily Ever Faster," is shrouded in secrecy, with the company only disclosing that it was a single Earth observation satellite deployed into a 500km low Earth orbit for an undisclosed customer. This marks Rocket Lab's 16th mission of the year, with a 100% success rate.
Speculation suggests the satellite may be a Gen-3 craft for the geospatial intelligence company BlackSky, capable of capturing images of objects as small as 14 inches on Earth's surface. Rocket Lab has launched BlackSky Gen-3 satellites in the past, supporting this theory. The Electron rocket, standing 59 feet tall, completed the launch, with the company announcing the successful deployment of the payload via social media approximately 80 minutes after takeoff.
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