{"id":775637,"date":"2023-12-15T06:32:53","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T11:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=775637"},"modified":"2023-12-15T06:32:53","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T11:32:53","slug":"rocket-lab-launches-a-japanese-satellite-from-the-space-companys-complex-in-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=775637","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab launches a Japanese satellite from the space company’s complex in New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n In this image released by Rocket Lab, an electron rocket successfully takes off from its launch site on the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. California-based Rocket Lab launched a Japanese satellite TSUKUYOMI-I, into orbit on behalf of a Japanese start-up Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space Inc, Friday. Credit: Rocket Lab via AP
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California-based Rocket Lab, which specializes in putting small satellites into orbit, launched a Japanese satellite on Friday from the space company’s complex on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.<\/p>\n

The mission, named “The Moon God Awakens,” was initially scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed due to forecast strong winds. The Electron rocket launched at 5:06 p.m. local time (0406 GMT).<\/p>\n

The rocket successfully carried the TSUKUYOMI-I satellite into orbit on behalf of Japanese startup Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space Inc, Rocket Lab said in a statement more than two hours after the launch.<\/p>\n

The synthetic-aperture radar satellite, named after a Japanese god of the moon, will collect images of the Earth, Rocket Lab said.<\/p>\n

The mission is Rocket Lab’s 10th for 2023, exceeding its annual record of nine set in 2022.<\/p>\n

It is the 42nd Electron launch from Mahia or from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia, since 2017. Rocket Lab was founded in New Zealand in 2006.<\/p>\n