Rocket Lab has announced the launch window for its 50th Electron mission, which will deploy five Internet-of-Things (IoT) satellites for the French company Kinéis. The ‘No Time Toulouse’ mission is scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, during a 14-day window opening on June 19, 2024, NZST.
This mission marks the first of five dedicated Electron launches for Kinéis, a company supported by private and public investors, including the French government’s space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales) and CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites), an international space-based solutions provider. Kinéis aims to enhance global IoT connectivity with its new constellation, which will connect any object anywhere in the world, ensuring the transmission of targeted and useful data to users in near-real-time, with low energy consumption. The constellation will feature more powerful 30kg-class nanosats integrating IoT technology and a ship-tracking Automatic Identification System (AIS). Once deployed, these technologies will allow Kinéis to expand across multiple industries, scaling from 20,000 connected devices to millions.
Peter Beck, Founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, said: “The launch industry is not an easy or forgiving one. Making it to your first launch is not a given, so reaching 50 Electron launches is an enormous achievement and a rare feat in the history of spaceflight. I’m immensely proud of the team for bringing an industry-defining rocket to market, making frequent and reliable dedicated small launch a reality for the first time. We’re excited to launch Kinéis on this historic mission and grateful for the continued support of all the customers who have flown on Electron since our very first mission in 2017. Thank you for helping us to make Electron one of the most frequently launched rockets of all time.”
Kinéis CEO Alexandre Tisserant added: “Kinéis is proud and confident to entrust the deployment of its constellation to Rocket Lab. The Electron launcher meets our technical requirements for the positioning of five nanosatellites for each dedicated launch. Our teams and those of Rocket Lab are well coordinated to ensure the satellite separation phase with the launcher. We are very honoured that this first launch for Kinéis coincides with Electron’s 50th flight!”
The ‘No Time Toulouse’ launch has been specifically tailored to meet Kinéis’ mission requirements, providing greater control over the launch schedule, orbit, and deployment parameters than would be possible on a larger rideshare mission.
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