Two LB-Based Firms Ready Space Launches In Comng Days

LBReport.com

LB's Future In Space
(A Continuing Series)

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(Jan. 16, 2021) -- Continuing LBREPORT.com's series on Long Beach's future in space, LBREPORT.com notes that two firms with a Long Beach presence adjacent to LB Airport in ELB's Douglas Park have scheduled space launches in the coming days.

Rocket Lab (HQ'd at 3881 McGowen Street) plans to launch a communications satellite for the OHB group that it says "will enable will enable specific frequencies to support future services from orbit."it will be Rocket Lab’s 18th mission using its "Electron" rocket. The firm chose Long Beach for its corporate presence, specializes in small satellite launches; it has a launch facility in New Zealand where it also maintains its production facility.

Image via RocketLab

A 10-day launch window remains open through January 25, and an initial Jan 15 launch date was put off after a company Twitter feed said an inclinometer showed "some strange data." Roicket Lab's Twitter feed says the instrument "is not used for flight, but we want to understand it all the same.' It said "That's part of the beauty of operating our own launch range, we have the luxury of time to roll back out when we're ready." Announcement of the updated launch date is currently pending.In November 2020, the firm made headlines by successfully orbiting thirty satellites in a single launch AND using parachute technology to recover the launch rocket. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

Rocket Lab's accomplishment earned online kudos from Elon Musk (LBREPORT>com coverage here.(whose Space X firm pioneered landing and recovering its own used rockets )

Meanwhile, down the street at 4022 East Conant St. (also in ELB's Douglas Park) Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit is now targeting Sunday (Jan. 17) for a second try at lanching a rocket from under the wing of the firm's "Cosmic Girl" jet aircraft. A May 2020 attempt to do so fizzled.

Virgin Orbit says it's ready for a Jan. 17 launch, with additional launch windows in January if needed.

Image via Virgin Orbit

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