[[Home|🏠]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> <span class="no-hover">[[Launches]]</span> <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> 047 - Beginning Of The Swarm
>[!Success] Mission Success
>[!summary]
The ‘Beginning Of The Swarm’ mission launched from Rocket Lab [[Launch Complex 1]] in Mahia, New Zealand at 10:32 am NZT on April 24th, 2024. [[Electron]] carried two satellites for two separate customers: NEONSAT-1, an Earth observation satellite for the Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) at the [[KAIST]] (KAIST), and [[NASA]]’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).
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The primary payload for this mission, NEONSAT-1, was an Earth observation satellite with a high-resolution optical camera designed to monitor for natural disasters along the Korean Peninsula by pairing its images with artificial intelligence. NEONSAT-1 is the first satellite developed under the NEONSAT program by SaTReC and KAIST, Korea’s leading university in science and technology, which developed and operated Korea’s very first satellite KITSAT-1 more than 30 years ago. Other NEONSAT satellites are planned to be launched in 2026 and 2027 to build out the NEONSAT constellation.
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The secondary payload was NASA's ACS3, a technology demonstration of new materials and deployable structures for solar sail propulsion systems that use sunlight to propel the spacecraft. Much like a sailboat is powered by wind pushing against a sail, solar sails employ the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, eliminating the need for conventional rocket propellant. The mission plans to test the deployment of new composite booms that will unfurl the solar sail to measure approximately 30 feet per side, or about the size of a small apartment in total. Flight data obtained during the demonstration will be used for designing future larger-scale composite solar sail systems for space weather early warning satellites, asteroid and other small body reconnaissance missions, and missions to observe the polar regions of the sun.
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[📸 Mission Photo Album](https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketlab/albums/72177720316422225/)
#electron #launch #success
| **Mission Name** | Beginning Of The Swarm |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Launch Date** | 2024-04-23 22:00 |
| **Outcome** | ✅ Success |
| **Customer** | [[NASA]], [[KAIST]] |
| **Location** | [[Launch Complex 1#Launch Pad B]] |
| **Vehicle** | [[Electron]] |
| **Orbit Type** | [[🌍 Orbits#SSO]] |
| **Target Orbit** | 520 km (Neonsat-1), 1,000 km (ACS3) | 97° |
| **Payload Mass** | 115 kg |
| **Recovery** | No Attempt |
| **Mission Link** | [Beginning Of The Swarm](https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/missions-launched/beginning-of-the-swarm/) |
| **Press Kit** | [Press Kit PDF](https://rocketlabcorp.com/assets/Uploads/RL-F47-BeginningOfTheSwarm-PressKit-2.pdf) |
![[Pasted image 20250406142222.png|300]]
## 📽️ Launch Video
<div class="responsive-video">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9izutzETw1U" title="Rocket Lab's Electron - Beginning Of The Swarm 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
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| File | Published |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| [[News/Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys Satellites ~500km Apart to Separate Orbits For KAIST and NASA Rocket Lab.md\|Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys Satellites ~500km Apart to Separate Orbits For KAIST and NASA Rocket Lab]] | April 24, 2024 |
| [[News/Rocket Lab Prepares to Launch Mission for KAIST and NASA to Deploy Satellites to Two Separate Orbits.md\|Rocket Lab Prepares to Launch Mission for KAIST and NASA to Deploy Satellites to Two Separate Orbits]] | April 01, 2024 |
| [[News/Rocket Lab Signs Deal to Launch South Korean Satellite.md\|Rocket Lab Signs Deal to Launch South Korean Satellite]] | December 07, 2023 |
| [[News/Rocket Lab Selected to Launch NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System.md\|Rocket Lab Selected to Launch NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System]] | October 06, 2021 |
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