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
Credit: Space.com / Tariq Malik
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TechTranscript
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.
01:43Wow.
01:44Wow.
01:45Wow.
01:46Wow.
01:46Wow.
01:47Wow.
01:47Wow.
01:48Wow.
01:48Wow.
01:49Wow.
01:49Wow.
01:50Wow.
01:50Wow.
01:51Wow.
01:51Wow.
01:52Wow.
01:52Wow.
01:53Wow.
01:53Wow.
01:54Wow.
01:54Wow.
01:55Wow.
01:56Wow.
01:56Wow.
01:57Wow.
01:57Wow.
01:58Wow.
01:58Wow.
01:59Wow.
02:00Wow.
02:00Wow.
02:01Wow.
02:02Wow.
02:03Wow.
02:04Wow.
02:05Wow.
02:06Wow.
02:07Wow.
02:08Wow.
02:09Wow.
02:10Wow.
02:11Wow.
02:12It's a spectacular liftoff right there.
02:38It's so bright and it was so loud.
02:40Oh, there's a plume.
02:49Wow.
02:53Look at that plume right there.
02:54There's a little bit of exhaust.
02:58You can see there might be an exhaust fuel that we could see as we go into night.
03:03We have the Virginia Beach camera up right now so you can see the view from there.
03:06Now, this is Rocket Lab's Virginia is for launch lovers.
03:13A spectacular liftoff you saw here from Rocket Lab's brand new U.S. launch site.
03:20Their first ever launch from U.S. soil.
03:23Looks to be going real, real smooth.
03:25It's like there was a satellite way up above that just passed overhead.
03:35You can see that moving dot.
03:36And you can still see it.
03:40Wow.
03:46It's carrying three Hawkeye 360 radio reconnaissance satellites for Hawkeye 360.
03:53They're a Virginia-based company here in Virginia.
03:57Although Rocket Lab is based up so we had an engine cutoff right there.
04:05And there's second engine or 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.
04:17Wow.
04:18It is still going all the way up there.
04:24That is amazing.
04:25Launching right over Orion's shoulder.
04:31As it lifted off there.
04:33You can see in my camera phone, you can see the stars of Orion.
04:39That's the belt right there in the middle.
04:43That is stunning.
04:45Still visible.
04:49As it's making its way to orbit.
04:51We'll see if we can see second engine cutoff in a minute.
04:55How did it look to you, Alex?
05:00Well, I was a little late.
05:03But anyway, I was waiting for a 30-second announcement.
05:08Yeah.
05:11But I got some shots.
05:13Yeah.
05:13And I'm within good exposure range.
05:17That's great.
05:18That's great.
05:20Wow, you can really see the plume now.
05:29Look at that exhaust plume.
05:31Wow.
05:32Now it's crossing the shoulder of Orion.
05:35That's beetle juice right there.
05:37There it goes.
05:42There it goes.
05:53Wow.
05:55That was stunning.
05:57And you can still see it.
05:58You can see it.
06:17It's right here.
06:19Oh.
06:19That's the second stage still on its way up.
06:24Doing its thing.
06:33Let's see if we can keep seeing it.
06:36Now you can really see Orion.
06:38Those three stars of its belt.
06:41Beetlejuice to the central left there.
06:44Forgive me for the grainy quality of my camera phone.
06:52Three, two, one.
06:54Chief leader, I'm Jeff Edmonds.
06:56I'm here at Wallace Island Flight Facility.
07:05We had a successful launch.
07:06I can't believe we can still see it, Alex.
07:08That's about three, two, one.
07:12Chief leader, I'm Jeff Edmonds in here.
07:14We had a successful launch of the Electron rocket here from the Mid-Atlantic Regional
07:19Spaceport in Walts Island.
07:21Now, this is the Electron rocket.
07:23This is the first time Rocket Lab has launched this rocket from U.S. soil.
07:28The rocket is about 50 feet tall when it's fully stacked.
07:31About three feet in diameter.
07:33All right, it's getting a little hard to track now.
07:35So, I think I'm going to sign off for now.
07:39And we're going to see how it looks on the real feet, the video feet.
07:44We saw the rocket continues with orbit around the Earth.
07:49This 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.
07:58What those are going to do, those are going to monitor radio frequency as they orbit and blow.
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