[[Home|🏠]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> <span class="no-hover">[[Launches]]</span> <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> 014 - I Can't Believe It's Not Optical
>[!success] Mission Success
>[!summary]
‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical’ was a dedicated mission for Capella Space, an information services company providing Earth observation data on demand.
>
Capella’s payload, ‘Sequoia’, is a single 100 kg class microsatellite which will be the first publicly available satellite in the company’s commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation. By positioning the satellite to a 45-degree inclination, Capella Space will maximize coverage over important areas such as the Middle East, Korea, Japan, Europe, South East Asia, Africa, and the U.S.
>
The mission name is a nod to Capella’s SAR technology that provides high quality images of the Earth day or night, and in any weather conditions. Capella’s space-based radar can detect sub-0.5 meter changes on the surface of the Earth, providing insights and data that can be used for security, agricultural and infrastructure monitoring, as well as disaster response and recovery.
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>This mission marks the first time Rocket Lab deployed a [[Photon]] spacecraft named 'First Light' into orbit.
>
[📸 Mission Photo Album](https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketlab/albums/72157716859999646/)
#electron #launch #success
| **Mission Name** | I Can't Believe It's Not Optical |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Launch Date** | 2020-08-31 03:05 |
| **Outcome** | ✅ Success |
| **Customer** | [[Capella Space]] |
| **Location** | [[Launch Complex 1#Launch Pad A]] |
| **Vehicle** | [[Electron]] |
| **Orbit Type** | [[🌍 Orbits#LEO]] |
| **Target Orbit** | 500 km | 45° |
| **Payload Mass** | 100 kg |
| **Recovery** | No Attempt |
| **Mission Link** | [I Can't Believe It's Not Optical](https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/missions-launched/i-cant-believe-its-not-optical/) |
| **Press Kit** | [Press Kit PDF](https://rocketlabcorp.com/assets/Uploads/I-Cant-Believe-Its-Not-Optical-Press-kit2.pdf) |
![[Pasted image 20250406132608.png|300]]
## 📽️ Launch Video
<div class="responsive-video">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FPIhI5mRDRI" title="Rocket Lab's Electron - I Can't Believe It's Not Optical Mission" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
## 📰 News
%%DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: start
```
table published as "Published"
from "News"
where contains(mission, [[014 - I Can't Believe It's Not Optical]])
sort published desc
```
%%
| File | Published |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------ |
| [[News/Rocket Lab Launches First In-house Designed & Built Photon Satellite.md\|Rocket Lab Launches First In-house Designed & Built Photon Satellite]] | September 03, 2020 |
| [[News/Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys Satellite for Capella Space on 14th Mission.md\|Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys Satellite for Capella Space on 14th Mission]] | August 31, 2020 |
| [[News/Capella Space and Rocket Lab to Launch Mid-Inclination Satellite to Enable Improved Monitoring of Key Global Regions.md\|Capella Space and Rocket Lab to Launch Mid-Inclination Satellite to Enable Improved Monitoring of Key Global Regions]] | March 05, 2020 |
%%DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: end %%
