Rocket Lab launch postponed again
Rocket Lab has postponed the launch of its second trial rocket until today after cancelling its launch yesterday afternoon.
Rocket Lab spokeswoman Morgan Bailey said the launch was cancelled due to atmospheric conditions and space traffic.
The International Space Station flying through orbit coupled with the weather conditions gave a tight six-minute window to attempt launch at 2.30pm, she said.
Rockets can be launched to fly around other spacecraft but that was too difficult with the weather, she said.
The company will try to launch the Electron rocket, named Still Testing, from 2.30pm today. It could launch any time from 2.30pm to 6.30pm.
The cancellation comes after the 200 engineers at Rocket Lab’s Ma¯ hia Peninsula launch site were feeling ‘‘pretty confident’’ yesterday morning.
Still Testing was due to launch on Friday but high-altitude winds and last-minute preparations delayed launch to this week.
Bailey said the weekend was spent giving the 23-metre carbonfibre rocket a ‘‘final check-up’’.
An imminent launch remained ‘‘weather and systems dependent’’, she said.
The company will live stream the launch for the first time. News website Stuff.co.nz will cast the stream, which will begin 12 minutes before launch.
If successful, Still Testing will fly through the atmosphere and, within 81⁄2 minutes, release three satellites into orbit. It is the first time such a space mission has been attempted from New Zealand.
The satellites will gather information from space for US companies Spire Global and Planet Labs.