040 - We Love The Nightlife

[[Home|🏠]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> <span class="no-hover">[[Launches]]</span> <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> 040 - We Love The Nightlife >[!success] Mission Success The ‘We Love the Nightlife’ mission launched from Rocket Lab [[Launch Complex 1]] on August 24, 2023 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula for American space tech company Capella Space (Capella), a leading provider of commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery. ‘We Love the Nightlife’ was Rocket Lab’s third launch for Capella following the successful “Stronger Together” mission launched in March 2023 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 in Virginia, USA, and the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical” mission in August 2020 from Launch Complex 1, which deployed the first satellite in Capella’s SAR constellation. The mission was also a recovery mission, with Electron's first stage brought back to Earth under a parachute for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean for retrieval. **For the first time, Rocket Lab also launched with a pre-flown Rutherford engine** - a significant milestone in the program to evolve Electron into a reusable rocket. [📸 Mission Photo Album](https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketlab/albums/72177720309925613/) #electron #launch #success #rutherford | **Mission Name** | We Love The Nightlife | | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Launch Date** | 2023-08-24 23:45 | | **Outcome** | ✅ Success | | **Customer** | [[Capella Space]] | | **Location** | [[Launch Complex 1#Launch Pad B]] | | **Vehicle** | [[Electron]] | | **Orbit Type** | [[🌍 Orbits#LEO]] | | **Target Orbit** | 640 km | 53° | | **Payload Mass** | 165 kg | | **Recovery** | Success (Ocean Landing) | | **Mission Link** | [We Love The Nightlife](https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/missions-launched/new-mission-page-3/) | | **Press Kit** | [Press Kit PDF](https://rocketlabcorp.com/assets/Uploads/We-Love-The-Nightlife-Press-Kit3...pdf) | ![[Pasted image 20250406141611.png|300]] ## Payload x1 [[Capella Space#🛰️ Space Systems#Acadia|Acadia SAR]] Satellite ![[Capella Space#🛰️ Space Systems#Acadia|Acadia SAR]] ## Launch Video <div class="responsive-video"> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-k2RZO9ghnc" title="Rocket Lab's Electron - We Love The Nightlife 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> ## Notes - This marks the first launch of a rocket with a previously flown [[Electron#Rutherford Engine|Rutherford Engine]] ## News %%DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: start ``` table published as "Published" from "News" where contains(mission, [[040 - We Love The Nightlife]]) sort published desc ``` %% | File | Published | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | | [[News/Rocket Lab Launches 40th Electron Mission, Successfully Flies Reused Engine.md\|Rocket Lab Launches 40th Electron Mission, Successfully Flies Reused Engine]] | August 24, 2023 | | [[News/Rocket Lab Brings Forward Milestone Recovery Mission.md\|Rocket Lab Brings Forward Milestone Recovery Mission]] | August 23, 2023 | | [[News/Rocket Lab Announces Launch Window for Next Mission in Multi-Launch Contract for Capella Space.md\|Rocket Lab Announces Launch Window for Next Mission in Multi-Launch Contract for Capella Space]] | July 20, 2023 | %%DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: end %%