GoPro Awards Aerospace Inc. For Live Recording The Launch Of Their Rocket Into Space With HERO4 Action Camera [Video]

GoPro, the technology company well-known for its action cameras, recently rewarded Aerospace Inc. The reason for them bestowing such an accolade was because Aerospace Inc. live recorded the launching of one of its rockets with a HERO4 action camera.

According to the synopsis of the video uploaded on GoPro’s official YouTube page, the launch of the rocket in which they recorded the event with HERO4 action cameras took place on November 6, 2015. On that day, Aerospace Inc. launched a 20-foot (six meters) tall SL-10 rocket into near-space. Their mission was to deploy the Maraia Capsule testing the aerodynamics and stability of the payload upon re-entry into earth’s atmosphere. The rocket reached an altitude of 396,000 feet (120,700 meters) and speeds up to Mach 5.5 at the engine’s burnout.

Aerospace Inc. attached numerous HERO4 action cameras at strategic locations around the rocket’s launch site. They also placed three different HERO4 action cameras at strategic locations on the rocket to show the process in full high-definition. It definitely gets more interesting around the 1:15 mark of the video, when parts of the rocket start breaking away in preparation of the rocket’s original mission, which is once again the deployment of the Maraia Capsule to test the aerodynamics and stability of the payload upon re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere.

Though Aerospace Inc. had a little bit of fun “competing” to attain the accolade of a GoPro Award, they made sure to verify their mission nevertheless was important. In a press release through NASA, explaining what they expect the Maraia Capsule will become for them.

“[The Maraia Capsule is] to become an inexpensive, autonomous International Space Station-based vehicle to provide on-demand return of small scientific and engineering payloads.”

After the rocket test of the Maraia Capsule, Paul De Leon, the NASA Flight Opportunities Program campaign manager, provided a follow-up statement provided a statement on the success of the mission.

“The new payload deployment capability from UP Aerospace was successfully demonstrated, opening the opportunity for future entry, descent and landing technologies to be tested and matured under Flight Opportunities.”

The testing of the Maraia Capsule was one of five tests Aerospace Inc. (along with NASA) took on. The mission also included four technology experiments from NASA Ames Research Center, Purdue University and New Mexico State University, as reported by TechCrunch. All experiments were eventually recovered intact on the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range.

Apparently, attaching GoPro action cameras to the rocket launch proved to be quite popular for Aerospace Inc. At this moment, over 2.6 million people have viewed the video. Over 27,000 people have liked it too. Yet, it should not be a surprise that specialty GoPro Action Camera, or any Action Camera videos, garner such popularity and views. Prior to this video, there have been many other popular experiments utilizing GoPro, as well as Sony’s action cameras. Tony Hawk utilized action cameras when he accomplished his first horizontal loop. An action camera was also utilized for an eagle’s eye view of an eagle in flight. Both videos were very popular online.

[Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images]