OHB Cosmos

OHB Cosmos is a small communications satellite from OHB group in Germany, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.

In orbit, it will test specific communication frequencies that could be used on future satellite missions for the company.

Not much else is known about the satellite.

Image: The mission patch, as a picture of the satellite is not available. Credit: Rocket Lab

Electron is Rocket Lab's answer to the massively growing demand for dedicated small satellite launchers.

The company names each Electron mission after a unique or quirky element of the flight. Past examples include "That's A Funny Looking Cactus" in honor of odd looking cacti in New Mexico where one payload customer was based, and "Return To Sender" for the first mission where the first stage was recovered and brought back for inspection and partial reuse.

The Electron mission for Flight #18 is named “Another One Leaves The Crust.”

Rocket Lab recently completed a set of improvements to Electron that allows the rocket to take an extra 75 kg to orbit on each mission.

Another big change introduced a new, wider payload fairing to accommodate larger satellites, which made its first flight on mission #17, "The Owl's Night Begins."

Electron flew for the first time in May 2017 and uses Rutherford engines -- the first electric engines to power an orbital rocket. The rocket costs approximately $6 million (USD) per mission before reuse is accounted for.

It has two stages, with an option to add a third stage based on mission needs.

Rocket Lab is developing and testing recovery technology and systems on the rocket's first stage.

Image: Electron. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1A (LC-1A) on the Māhia Peninsula on New Zealand's North Island is part of the company's first launch site, with another under construction at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.

An isolated location, the Māhia launch site hosted its first orbital launch attempt of Electron in May 2017 and its first successful orbital launch in January 2018.

Together with Rocket Lab's third launch pad in Virginia, their launch sites can support up to 132 Electron launch opportunities every year.

The Māhia location has two launch pads (LC-1A and LC-1B) and two separate integration hangers to permit simultaneous and protected processing of two payloads for flight at the same time.

LC-1A is the original pad at the Māhia site, with LC-1B launching its first mission in February 2022.

Photo: Rocket Lab