Launch provider Rocket Lab has revealed the launch window for the first commercial flight nicknamed “It’s Business Time”. If successfully, the provider’s second orbital launch will occur just over four months since their first success in December last year.
A launch window for the launch of the “It’s Business Time” mission will open daily for four hours at 00:30 GMT for 14 days from Friday, April 10, 2018. The mission will launch Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the provider’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The launch complex is currently the only private orbital launch complex in the world, with the SpaceX South Texas Launch Site set to follow suit soon.
The “It’s Business Time” mission is a rideshare that will carry two Lemur-2 cubesats for Spire and a weather satellite for GeoOptics built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems. The launch may include additional payloads, however, Rocket Lab representatives have cited ongoing licensing efforts with the New Zealand government as the cause of the delayed announcement.
Rocket Lab’s first Electron rocket, nicknamed “Still Testing” was launched in December 2017. The launch had initially been aborted by the vehicle’s onboard computers moments before launch. The launch provider identified a LOx chilldown bleed schedule that was not compatible with the warm conditions of the day as the cause of the aborted launch.
Image Credit: Rocket Labs
