A three launch day

It has been a three launch day and we're waiting for number three, just "up the road" at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Just a reminder that a three launch day is nothing at all like a three dog night.

But let me start at the beginning - that's a very good place to start. 

The first launch was a Rocket Lab mission from their seaside launch facility in New Zealand at 2:51 PM here (EST). 

An Electron rocket carrying the QPS-SAR-14 satellite, nicknamed Yachihoko-I, lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site today at 2:51 p.m. EST (1951 GMT; 8:51 a.m. on Nov. 6. local New Zealand time). 

An SAR is a Synthetic Aperture Radar and is an additional satellite for a constellation being implemented by Japanese company iQPS. 

"This satellite will join the rest of the QPS-SAR constellation in providing high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and Earth monitoring services globally," Rocket Lab wrote in a mission description. "iQPS aims to build a constellation of 36 SAR satellites that will provide near-real-time images of Earth every 10 minutes."

The second launch was a SpaceX Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Starlink Group 6-81 at 8:30 PM EST.  Like the Rocket Lab launch before it, the payloads were deployed to the intended orbit on time. Unlike the other two launches, the booster landed on Just Read the Instruction for reuse.

The third launch is an Atlas V, launching a ViaSat-3 F2 built by Boeing to become part of ViaSat's constellation. Launch is currently set for 10:24 PM EST. This payload is headed for a geosynchronous orbit. 

The ViaSat-3 constellation is comprised of three Ka-band satellites, each designed to be capable of rapidly shifting capacity throughout its coverage area to deliver bandwidth where and when it’s needed most. Once in service, ViaSat-3 F2 is expected to more than double the bandwidth capacity of Viasat’s entire existing fleet, adding more than 1 Tbps capacity to Viasat’s network over the Americas, with anticipated service entry in early 2026. 

While typing that previous paragraph, the Atlas V went into a countdown hold. It might not make it tonight.