Mission name: Beginning Of The Swarm
Launch Vehicle: Electron
Launch Site: Launch Complex 1
NZT Launch Window: 10:00, April 24, 2024
UTC Launch Window: 22:00, April 23, 2024
ET Launch Window: 18:00, April 23, 2024
PT Launch Window: 15:00, April 23, 2024
Mission Overview: Rocket Lab’s ‘Beginning Of The Swarm’ mission is set to launch from New Zealand during a 14-day window starting on April 24th. The Electron rocket will carry two satellites for separate customers: NEONSAT-1, an Earth observation satellite developed by SaTReC and KAIST, and NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).

NEONSAT-1, the primary payload, is designed to monitor natural disasters along the Korean Peninsula using high-resolution optical imagery and artificial intelligence. The secondary payload, NASA’s ACS3, will demonstrate new materials and deployable structures for solar sail propulsion systems, which use sunlight for propulsion instead of conventional rocket propellant. The solar sail will measure approximately 30 feet per side when unfurled, and the flight data will be used to design future larger-scale composite solar sail systems for various space missions.
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