Rocket Lab's First US Launch From Space.com's View

Space.com

Space.com editor-in-chief was in attendance at NASA's Wallops Flight Center for the first launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from US soil.  Credit: Space.com / Tariq Malik

Transcript

00:00Hey space fans, Tarek Malik with Space.com. I'm here at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility

00:05where we're waiting for Rocket Lab's first U.S. launch of an Electron rocket.

00:09It's a gorgeous night. I'm not sure if you can see, but we're minutes away from launch.

00:13Whoa! There's the Moon and Jupiter and Venus.

00:18It's a little too early for Saturn, but we're just a few minutes away from the launch.

00:24And I'm here with Alex Mankovic. Is that Mankovic?

00:28On 43. Welcome to the inaugural Electron launch from U.S. soil.

00:33That's right. That's right. So we're just minutes away from this launch here.

00:37I'm going to stay out of his way because he's taking some awesome photos.

00:40And hopefully we're going to get a good show.

00:43It's been a very smooth countdown all night long.

00:47Gorgeous sunset launch. That's the rocket right over there.

00:52It's a little blurry in my video feed, but hopefully we're going to get a good shot.

00:58Oh, you can hear the rest of the media, folks. Let's see if I can get a shot.

01:03That's the reporters over here on top of the hill.

01:08There's a lot of wind in the upper levels of the atmosphere here.

01:11The jet stream.

01:12Right here.

01:12It's a Mankovic launch until today.

01:15So here we are tonight.

01:16It's about two miles behind me.

01:18And I'll let you get a...

01:19Here's the rest of the folks. There's an observatory dome there.

01:22We're looking forward to the moon.

01:27All right.

01:28So...

01:29It's been a very smooth...

01:34There was one issue...

01:36Oh, there it goes.

01:42Wow.

01:43Wow.

01:51Wow.

01:51Yeah.

01:52Wow.

02:05Wow.

02:06Wow.

02:08Oh, my God.

02:10It's a spectacular liftoff right there.

02:38It's so bright, and it was so loud.

02:46Oh, there's a plume.

02:49Wow.

02:53Look at that plume right there.

03:03Now, this is Rocket Labs.

03:12Virginia is for launch lovers.

03:13A spectacular liftoff you saw here from Rocket Labs brand new US launch site.

03:20Their first ever launch from US soil looks to be going real, real smooth.

03:27It's like there was a satellite way up above that just passed overhead.

03:34And you can see that moving dot, and you can still see it, wow.

03:46It's carrying three Hawkeye 360 radio reconnaissance satellites for Hawkeye 360.

03:53They're a Virginia-based company here in Virginia.

03:58Although, Rocket Lab is based up.

04:01Looks like we had an engine cutoff right there.

04:06And there's second stage ignition.

04:11So you just saw that wink out right there.

04:13That was stage separation.

04:16And you can still see it, wow.

04:18It is still going all the way up there.

04:24That is amazing launching right over Orion's shoulder as it lifted off there.

04:33You can still see in my camera phone, you can see the stars of Orion.

04:39That's the belt right there in the middle.

04:44That is stunning.

04:45Still visible as it's making its way to orbit.

04:51We'll see if we can see second engine cutoff in a minute.

04:58How'd it look to you, Alex?

04:59Well, I was a little late on the, yeah, but anyway, no, I was waiting for a 32nd announcement.

05:08Yeah.

05:09So, but, you know, I got some shots, and I'm within good exposure range, so.

05:18That's great.

05:19Wow, you can really see the plume now.

05:30Look at that exhaust plume, wow.

05:33Now it's crossing the shoulder of Orion.

05:36That's Betelgeuse right there.

05:42There it goes.

05:54Wow.

05:55That was stunning.

05:57And you can still see it.

06:00I guess so, yeah, we're seeing it right there.

06:05Wow.

06:06We have no idea how the plume we have, so we're playing with fire.

06:13You can see it, it's right here.

06:19Oop.

06:20That's the second stage still on its way up.

06:24Doing its thing.

06:26We'll see if we can keep seeing it.

06:35Now you can really see Orion.

06:37Those three stars of its belt, Betelgeuse to the central left there.

06:49Forgive me for the grainy quality of my camera phone.

07:06I can't believe we can still see it, Alex.

07:33Alright, it's getting a little hard to track now, so I think I'm going to sign off for

07:39now and we're going to see how it looks on the real feed, the video feed.

07:44We saw the rocket continue with orbit around the Earth.

07:48This mission is all about sending three different satellites.

07:52They're about the size of a microwave into Earth's orbit from the company Hawkeye 360.

07:57What those are going to do, those are going to monitor radio frequency as they orbit and blow.

08:02I can't believe it.

08:06I can't believe in you.

08:08I want to be able to monitor radio frequency as they orbit.

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