Rocket Lab’s ‘Beginning Of The Swarm’ Mission Launch Window Is Open And Ready To Go – SatNews

Everything is set for the opportunity that presents itself during a 14-day launch period starting April 24^e to launch Rocket Lab’s Beginning of the Swarm mission for South Korea and NASA. Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand is where the Electron will carry two satellites for two separate customers: NEONSAT-1, an Earth observation satellite for the Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has set the launch window for the next Electron launch.

The ‘Beginning Of The Swarm’ mission is scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand during a 14-day launch period beginning April 24.^e. Electron will carry two satellites for two separate customers: NEONSAT-1, an Earth observation satellite for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC), and NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).

The main payload for this mission, NEONSAT-1, is an Earth observation satellite with a high-resolution optical camera designed to monitor natural disasters along the Korean Peninsula by combining the images with artificial intelligence. NEONSAT-1 is the first satellite developed under the NEONSAT program by SaTReC and KAIST, Korea’s leading science and technology university, which developed and operated Korea’s very first satellite KITSAT-1 more than 30 years ago. Other NEONSAT satellites are expected to be launched in 2026 and 2027 to build out the NEONSAT constellation. The program is a collaboration between multiple Korean academic, industrial and research institutions, including SaTReC in KAIST, which leads the system design and engineering of the program; the Satrec Initiative, a Korean satellite manufacturer that successfully developed seven previous low-Earth orbit remote sensing satellites; and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), which manages the mission ground segments and technology oversight for the NEONSAT program. NEONSAT is funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of the Koren government.

NASA’s ACS3 is a technology demonstration of new materials and deployable structures for solar-powered propulsion systems that use sunlight to propel the spacecraft. Just as a sailboat is powered by the wind pushing against a sail, solar sails use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, eliminating the need for conventional rocket fuel. The mission plans to test the deployment of new composite booms that will deploy the solar sail to about 30 feet per side, or in total about the size of a small apartment. Flight data obtained during the demonstration will be used to design future large-scale composite solar sail systems for space weather early warning satellites, exploration missions of asteroids and other small bodies, and missions to observe the Sun’s polar regions. The ACS3 was designed and built at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and the technology demonstration is managed and funded by the Small Spacecraft Technology program at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, interested in larger solar sail missions in the future, is funding an expanded operations component to perform a series of maneuvers to raise and lower the spacecraft’s orbit, demonstrating the practicality of solar sails.

Electron’s Kick Stage’s ability to perform multiple engine burns in space and place individual satellites into unique orbits is critical to this mission. The Kick Stage will first ignite its Curie engine to launch NEONSAT-1 into its intended 520 km circular Earth orbit. After the charge is separated, the Curie engine will be reignited to perform an apogee increase to 1,000 km. Once in this phasing orbit, the Curie will ignite a third time to go circular before deploying the solar-powered demonstration spacecraft. The Kick Stage will then ignite Curie for the fourth and final time to perform a deorbit burn that will bring the Kick Stage closer to Earth, accelerating the final deorbit and removal from space to create a more sustainable space environment to support. Rocket Lab has demonstrated similar orbit elevations, inclination changes and deorbit maneuvers on previous Electron missions and most recently with its successful spacecraft return to Varda on February 21, 2024.

‘Beginning Of The Swarm’ will be Rocket Lab’s fifth mission of 2024 and 47^e Electron launch in general.

Details of ‘Beginning of the Swarm’:

• Launch window: Opens no earlier than April 24, 2024.
• Customers: The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and NASA.
• Satellites: NEONSAT-1 for SaTReC/KAIST and the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) for NASA.
• Target orbits: NEONSAT-1 up to 520 km circular Earth orbit, ACS3 up to 1,000 km circular Earth orbit.
• Launch broadcast: The launch will be broadcast live on www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream

The ‘Beginning Of The Swarm’ mission is scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand during a 14-day launch period beginning April 24.^e. Electron will carry two satellites for two separate customers: NEONSAT-1, an Earth observation satellite for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC), and NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).

The main payload for this mission, NEONSAT-1, is an Earth observation satellite with a high-resolution optical camera designed to monitor natural disasters along the Korean Peninsula by combining the images with artificial intelligence.

NEONSAT-1 is the first satellite developed under the NEONSAT program by SaTReC and KAIST, Korea’s leading science and technology university, which developed and operated Korea’s very first satellite KITSAT-1 more than 30 years ago. Other NEONSAT satellites are expected to be launched in 2026 and 2027 to build out the NEONSAT constellation.

The secondary payload is NASA’s ACS3, a technology demonstration of new materials and deployable structures for solar-powered propulsion systems that use sunlight to propel the spacecraft. Just as a sailboat is powered by the wind pushing against a sail, solar sails use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, eliminating the need for conventional rocket fuel.

The mission plans to test the deployment of new composite booms that will deploy the solar sail to about 30 feet per side, or in total about the size of a small apartment. Flight data obtained during the demonstration will be used to design future large-scale composite solar sail systems for space weather early warning satellites, exploration missions of asteroids and other small bodies, and missions to observe the Sun’s polar regions.

NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) is a technology demonstration mission tasked with deploying a composite boom solar sail.

NeonSat-1 is a high-resolution optical satellite from South Korea’s KAIST that will be deployed as a technology demonstration for a planned future Earth observation constellation.