That's a Funny Looking Cactus
That's a Funny Looking Cactus was a Rocket Lab Electron mission that launched successfully at 06:00 UTC on 5 May 2019 (6:00 p.m. NZST on 5 May; 2:00 a.m. EDT on 5 May) from Launch Complex 1A on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula.
06:00 UTC on 5 May 2019 · 6:00 p.m. NZST on 5 May · 2:00 a.m. EDT on 5 May
Mission State
This mission currently has a dated launch window in the tracker.
The primary watch link points to an official Rocket Lab source.
Name Origin
A geographic nod to the DoD Space Test Program, based in New Mexico — a desert state famous for cacti. Rocket Lab humorously imagined someone spotting the rocket hardware and mistaking it for a cactus.
Mission Overview
The mission has been procured by the DoD Space Test Program in partnership with Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) as part of its Rapid Agile Launch Initiative .The payload consists of three satellites, SPARC-1, Falcon ODE and Harbinger, that will deployed in a precise sequence. The Space Plug and Play Architecture Research CubeSat-1 (SPARC-1) mission, sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV), is a joint Swedish-United States experiment to explore technology developments in avionics miniaturization, software defined radio systems, and space situational awareness (SSA). The Falcon Orbital Debris Experiment (Falcon ODE), sponsored by the United States Air Force Academy, will evaluate ground-based tracking of space objects. Harbinger, a commercial small satellite built by York Space Systems and sponsored by the U.S Army, will demonstrate the ability of an experimental commercial system to meet DoD space capability requirements.
Technical Details
72
kiwis- STP-27RD rocketlabusa.com
Launch data cross-checked against Wikipedia.
Was this a jellyfish launch?
HighSun 9° below the horizon at liftoff — prime twilight.
Details
- Unlikely
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Liftoff
- 6:00 p.m. NZST · 06:00 UTC
- Sunset
- 5:15 p.m. NZST · 05:15 UTC
- Civil dusk (−6°)
- 5:43 p.m. NZST · 05:43 UTC
- Nautical dusk (−12°)
- 6:14 p.m. NZST · 06:14 UTC
- Astronomical dusk (−18°)
- 6:46 p.m. NZST · 06:46 UTC
Twilight times at the pad (Mahia, NZ) for the evening of the launch.
What's a rocket jellyfish? When a rocket launches in twilight, the ground is dark but its exhaust plume climbs into sunlight high above. The expanding plume glows against the dark sky in a jellyfish-like shape.
Space-Object Catalog
| Object | Operator | Built by | Mass | Orbit | Status | NORAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AFOTEC-1 2019-026A · Payload | Operator US Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Detachment 4 / United States Air Force Academy | Built by United States Air Force Academy Cubesat 1U | Mass 1 kg | Orbit 199 × 206 km · 40.0° | Status Decayed 2024-03-18 | NORAD 44225 |
SPARC-1 2019-026B · Payload | Operator US Air Force Research Laboratories/RV (Space Vehicles Directorate) / Forsvarets materielverk | Built by US Air Force Research Laboratories/RV (Space Vehicles Directorate) Cubesat 6U? | Mass 10 kg | Orbit 207 × 223 km · 40.0° | Status Decayed 2023-06-26 | NORAD 44226 |
Electron 6 Kick Stage 2019-026C · Stage | Operator Rocket Lab Ltd. | Built by Rocket Lab Ltd. Kick Stage | Mass 45 kg | Orbit 156 × 168 km · 40.0° | Status Decayed 2023-09-12 | NORAD 44227 |
Electron 6 Stage 2 2019-026D · Stage | Operator Rocket Lab Ltd. | Built by Rocket Lab Ltd. Electron St2 | Mass 250 kg | Orbit 140 × 197 km · 40.0° | Status Decayed 2019-05-17 | NORAD 44228 |
Harbinger 2019-026E · Payload | Operator York Space Systems | Built by York Space Systems S-Class | Mass 150 kg | Orbit 175 × 182 km · 40.0° | Status Decayed 2024-03-09 | NORAD 44229 |