25 Jan 2018

Man-made shooting stars

From The Panel, 4:08 pm on 25 January 2018

Rocket Lab has announced its Humanity Star is in orbit - New Zealand's first satellite. It was launched on the company's Electron rocket which took off on Sunday. It's a reflective, carbon fibre sphere designed to be seen all over the world, as one of the brightest objects in the sky. Meanwhile a Japanese tech firm is launching a 'meteor shower on demand' service. It'll only be available to the very wealthy but is yet another example of creative uses of space technology. The panelists tell us what they think of the projects.

Rocket Lab's Humanity Star satellite.

Rocket Lab's Humanity Star satellite. Photo: Supplied / Rocket Lab