[[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
>[!summary]
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.
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‘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.
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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.
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[📸 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
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| 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 |
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