Rocket Lab plans to launch five satellites for a French technology company today (Sept. 18), and you can watch live.
The Rocket Lab launch, using the company’s Electron rocket, is scheduled to occur from New Zealand at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT or 11 a.m. local time in New Zealand on Thursday, Sept. 19). Rocket Lab will livestream a webcast 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch on Space.com as well. The launch window is instantaneous.
The launch will be the second of five Rocket Lab launches for Kinéis, a French company that works on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. The IoT refers to connected devices that exchange data with each other and the cloud. The technology can be used for everything from live-tracking shipping containers to updating the list of items in a fridge.
If weather or technical issues scuttle today’s try, Rocket Lab could potentially try again soon — the launch window extends for 14 days. Rocket Lab has not yet released a specific backup liftoff date in that window.
Related: Rocket Lab launches 5 IoT satellites on landmark 50th mission (video)
The mission, nicknamed “Kinéis Killed the RadIOT Star,” will be Rocket Lab’s second for the French company. Kinéis plans to launch 25 satellites with Rocket Lab overall. Five satellites are in space already from a June 20 Rocket Lab launch, called “No Time Toulouse.”
The completed constellation for Kinéis will include 25 satellites able to “connect any object anywhere in the world and guarantee the transmission of targeted and useful data to users,” according to a press release from Rocket Lab. Financial backers for Kinéis include the French national space agency (CNES) and CLS, a French company that deals with international space-based solutions.
The constellation from Kinéis will also have the ability to track ships using automatic identification system (AIS) technology. AIS transmits the identity, direction, position and speed of vessels to other ships or satellites, for reasons including traffic safety and maritime security, according to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Rocket Lab operates two launch complexes, one in New Zealand and one in Virginia. The company has sent more than 180 satellites to space to date, according to its website, with anchor customers including NASA, the U.S. Space Force and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The 59-foot-tall (18 meters) Electron is small compared to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which is perhaps Rocket Lab’s biggest competitor. The Falcon 9 stands 229 feet (70 m) tall and has completed hundreds of launches successfully. Rocket Lab says its differentiator is more flexibility for small satellite companies, especially in situations where Electron uses a “kick stage” that can do orbital inclination changes for satellite deployments.
