News Archive / Tagged: New Zealand

• Helicopter snags falling Electron rocket before dropping it

  Theresa CrossMay 3rd, 2022

  A Rocket Lab helicopter successfully caught a returning Electron rocket booster as it parachuted back to Earth, only to release it moments later.

• Rocket Lab’s Electron flies from new pad in New Zealand

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 28th, 2022

  In Rocket Lab’s inaugural launch from a new pad, the company’s Electron rocket orbited a small satellite for Synspective.

• Rocket Lab Electron orbits DARPA’s R3D2 prototype antenna

  Rae Botsford EndMarch 28th, 2019

  Although a few weeks after initially scheduled, Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle successfully orbited a prototype satellite for DARPA.

• Finally ‘business time’ for Rocket Lab with 7 payloads launched

  Rae Botsford EndNovember 11th, 2018

  Rocket Lab sent its third Electron rocket into orbit on the company's first fully-commercial mission, called "It's Business Time."

• Not quite business time: Rocket Lab delays next Electron launch

  Joe LatrellApril 18th, 2018

  Unusual behavior in a motor controller has prompted the delay of the next flight of Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher. During the wet dress rehearsal for the mission dubbed "It’s Business Time," the pad operations team found the anomaly.

• ‘It’s Business Time’: Rocket Lab sets April 20 for next Electron launch

  Heather SmithApril 7th, 2018

  Rocket Lab announced a launch date for the first fully-commercial flight of its Electron rocket. The mission named "It's Business Time" is expected to host payloads for Spire Global and GeoOptics that are built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, according to a news release from the launch service provider.

• Rocket Lab delays 2nd Electron test flight until 2018

  Rae Botsford EndDecember 20th, 2017

  After four scrubs, the second test flight of Rocket Lab's Electron rocket has been postponed until early 2018. In the initial release about the launch window, Rocket Lab CEO and CTO Peter Beck said the company was expecting to scrub multiple times as it waits for the perfect conditions and ensures everything on the vehicle performs as designed. That patience was and continues to be needed.

• Rocket Lab sets launch window for next Electron launch

  Curt GodwinDecember 2nd, 2017

  Following the recent announcement about the company's preparations for the upcoming launch of its Electron rocket, Rocket Lab is now targeting a 10-day window in early December. Opening at 2:30 p.m. New Zealand Time (01:30 GMT) Dec. 8, 2017, the window will last for four hours during each of the attempts.

• Rocket Lab completes flight qualification of Electron first stage

  Derek RichardsonDecember 18th, 2016

  Less than three months after finishing its private space launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, U.S.-based Rocket Lab announced flight qualification and acceptance of the company’s Electron booster has been completed.

• World’s first private orbital launch complex completed in New Zealand

  Tomasz NowakowskiSeptember 30th, 2016

  Rocket Lab, a U.S. company with a New Zealand subsidiary aiming to provide commercial rocket launch services, announced Sept. 26 the completion of the world’s first private space launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The facility, named Launch Complex 1, will serve as the primary site for launches of the company’s Electron rocket.