News
Rocket Lab channels SpaceX-like rapid launch capability in July 4 Electron mission
The prominent launcher of dedicated small satellite launches, Rocket Lab, looks to achieve SpaceX-like rapid launch capability of its Electron rocket. The company is targeting its shortest turn around time between missions from the same launch pad. Just three weeks ago, Rocket Lab returned to operational launch status following the easement of Covid-19 restrictions at the company’s Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The Electron rocket completed its twelfth mission nicknamed “Don’t Stop Me Now” which supported a rideshare payload of five smallsats to orbit. Now, Rocket Lab is ready for its third mission of 2020 – the second in just three weeks – with Electron’s thirteenth mission “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen.”
The launch window for #PicsOrItDidntHappen opens on 3 July UTC. Lift-off will take place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 Pad A on the Mahia Peninsula. pic.twitter.com/01sDCXVj03
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) June 15, 2020
Rideshare mission of space cameras
The “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen” mission features a rideshare manifest consisting of seven small satellite payloads for customers Planet, In-Space Missions, and rideshare and mission manager Spaceflight Inc.’s customer Canon Electronics. The majority of payloads are Earth-imaging satellites inspiring the “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen” mission nickname. The primary payload, Canon Electronics Inc.’s CE-SAT-IB microsatellite, will demonstrate the company’s high definition and wide-angle Earth-imaging capabilities and will serve as a testbed for future opportunities of mass production. Also aboard Electron is five of Planet’s latest generation SuperDove (Flock4e) Earth-observation satellites equipped with new sensors to produce higher quality images of Earth’s landmass on a near-daily basis. The UK enterprise In Space Missions provides the final payload with its maiden Faraday-1 6U CubeSat. According to In Space Missions, Faraday-1 is “the first in a series of satellites that will provide a turnkey service for commercial customers and research organizations wanting to access to space at a competitive and affordable cost.” Currently, In Space Missions has four more satellites under contract with the Faraday service.
Rocket Lab’s carbon composite Electron booster propelled by nine 3D-printed Rutherford sea-level engines capable of 36,000lbf (162kN) of thrust will send all payloads to a 500km sun-synchronous low Earth orbit at an inclination of 97.5 degrees.
It's almost time to go to space! Today's mission will see seven small sats launched to a 500 km circular orbit for @SpaceflightInc customer @Canon, as well as small sat operators @planetlabs and @Heads_InSpace. pic.twitter.com/mMKENVBeLa
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) July 4, 2020
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Rapid launch capability within reach
According to Rocket Lab, a new Electron booster is produced in-house approximately every eighteen days at its production facility in Auckland, New Zeland. While Electron currently only launches from Launch Complex 1 on New Zeland’s Mahia Peninsula, Rocket Lab looks to further open small satellite access to orbit and expand its launching capabilities with two more operational launch complexes targeted to begin service later this year. The Mahia Peninsula location has recently undergone expansion, adding the neighboring Launch Complex 1B while a third launch location, Launch Complex 2, has been opened at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia.
Lots of launch pads, we got ‘em. Electron is on the pad at LC-1A this week with a front row view of construction progress on LC-1B. pic.twitter.com/ijZAVRc6yV
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) July 1, 2020
Rocket Lab Founder and CEO, Peter Beck, states that multiple launch locations “enables our small sat operators to do more, spend less, and get to orbit faster” and that “Rocket Lab has eliminated the small sat waiting room for orbit. We’ve focused heavily on shoring up our rapid launch capability in recent years and we’re proud to be putting that into practice for the small sat community with launches just days apart.”
The rocket backlog. pic.twitter.com/AhHlbNvEmq
— Peter Beck (@Peter_J_Beck) May 15, 2020
With an expansive backlog of Electron boosters, Rutherford engines, and the capability to soon launch missions back-to-back from neighboring launchpads Rocket Lab aims to break into the market of rapid launch capability joining the likes of SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket which has launched 91 times (89 times successfully) since 2010. The company also looks to break into the booster recovery market also pioneered by SpaceX.
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Earlier this year, Rocket Lab completed a successful mid-air recovery demonstration of a parachute equipped test article with a helicopter and a specially designed grappling hook. Beck recently revealed on Twitter that Rocket Lab is targeting the seventeenth flight of the Electron to debut fully operational recovery efforts of the first stage booster to occur at some point before year’s end.
The “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen” mission previously scheduled for July 3rd, moved to July 5th, then pushed up to July 4th is now targeting liftoff NET 21:19 UTC/5:19 pm EDT from LC-1 in New Zealand taking advantage of more favorable launch weather conditions. Rocket Lab has stated on Twitter, however, that there is a “relatively high chance” of the launch attempt scrubbing to a later date as the possibility of high ground winds still persists. Should they be needed, backup launch opportunities extend through July 16th.
The “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen” Electron and payload are currently vertical at LC-1 ahead of the launch attempt. A Livestream of the effort will be made available approximately fifteen minutes ahead of liftoff posted to the company’s social media accounts and available on the company’s website: www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
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Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
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Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
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“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
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Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again
