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I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical mission patch
Mission Status

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical

Last Updated: 1 hour ago
SUCCESS
Orbit Achieved
Monday, August 31, 2020 03:05 AM UTC
Source: YouTube

Disclaimer: This livestream is from a third-party channel and is not an official Rocket Lab broadcast.

Name Origin

A playful nod to the "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" brand, this name highlights the surprising clarity and capability of Capella Space's non-optical Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites.

"I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical"

Mission Overview

This return to flight mission is dedicated for Capella Space, an information services company providing Earth observation data on demand. Capella’s payload, ‘Sequoia’, is a single 100 kg class microsatellite which will be the first publicly available satellite in the company’s commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation. By positioning the satellite to a 45-degree inclination, Capella Space will maximize coverage over important areas such as the Middle East, Korea, Japan, Europe, South East Asia, Africa, and the U.S. The mission name is a nod to Capella’s SAR technology that provides high quality images of the Earth day or night, and in any weather conditions, as well as a nod to the infamous advertisement campaign for “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”. Capella’s space-based radar can detect sub-0.5 meter changes on the surface of the Earth, providing insights and data that can be used for security, agricultural and infrastructure monitoring, as well as disaster response and recovery.

Technical Details

Vehicle
Electron
Launch Site
LC-1A
Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Target Orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Mission Type
Earth Science
Payload Mass
100 kg
Kiwi bird icon 40 kiwis
Customer
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