WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.- A new date has been picked for Rocket Lab's first rocket launch from the Wallops Island Flight Facility in Accomack County.
The Electron rocket is set to now take-off January 23 with a launch window between 6 and 8 p.m. Officials have planned back-up launch days through early February.
The rocket was previously set to take off in December but the launch had to be scrubbed several times due to weather.
The 59-foot-tall Electron rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island. The mission, named “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” will deploy radio frequency monitoring satellites for HawkEye 360, an American geospatial analytics company.
With this mission, NASA is helping foster a growing low-Earth space economy and continues Wallops' 35-year history of support to the commercial launch industry.
The launch may be visible, weather permitting, to people throughout much of the east coast of the United States.
Viewing locations on Chincoteague Island include Robert Reed Park on Main Street or Beach Road spanning the area between Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. The Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Atlantic beaches also provide good viewing locations. The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops will be open for this launch, and will open at 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23.
A live launch webcast will be available at www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream beginning about 40 minutes before launch.