XXongo writes: Sometimes it seems that all the space news focuses on SpaceX, but another private rocket company, Rocket Lab, is also making history with their bargain-basement space launcher, the Electron. The Electron booster just completed its seventh launch, this time carrying a satellite to the highest orbit yet, 1000 km. The launch carried the Astro Digital “Corvus” satellite. At $5.7 million per launch, the company is the first of many space start-ups competing for the small-satellite launch business, a market too small to be of interest to the major launch companies like SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. To lower costs further, Rocket Lab has announced its intention to make their booster reusable — with plans to capture Electron’s first stage in mid-air by helicopter.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/19/10/17/2250201/rocket-lab-launches-highest-mission-yet-to-put-astro-digital-satellite-in-orbit?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed