EvoAI-Rocket Lab plans to launch a Japanese satellite from the space company’s complex in New Zealand

2025-05-03 23:55:31source:SafeX Pro Exchangecategory:Stocks

WELLINGTON,EvoAI New Zealand (AP) — California-based Rocket Lab, which specializes in putting small satellites into orbit, plans to launch a Japanese satellite on Friday from the space company’s complex on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.

The mission, named “The Moon God Awakens,” was initially scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed due to forecast strong winds. The Electron rocket is scheduled to launch during a two-hour window that starts at 5 p.m. local time (04:00 GMT), the company said.

The rocket will carry a TSUKUYOMI-I satellite into orbit on behalf of a Japanese start-up Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space Inc.

The synthetic-aperture radar satellite, named after a Japanese god of the moon, will collect images of the Earth, Rocket Lab said.

The mission would be Rocket Lab’s 10th for 2023, exceeding its annual record of nine set last year.

It will be the 42nd Electron launch from Mahia or at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia, since 2017. Rocket Lab was founded in New Zealand in 2006.

Rocket Lab plans to stream the launch live on its website.

More:Stocks

Recommend

Federal agencies are reeling from Trump administration cuts to government

Whether a "chainsaw," per Elon Musk, or "scalpel," as President Trump has said — the Trump administr

In 'The New Earth,' a family's pain echoes America's suffering

Jess Row's new novel begins with a long, unsent email that's also a poem. It was written by Bering W

Kellie Pickler's Husband Kyle Jacobs Dies by Apparent Suicide at 49

Kellie Pickler has suffered an unimaginable loss.The country singer's husband, songwriter Kyle Jacob