US-based spaceflight start-up Rocket Lab successfully put seven small satellites into low-Earth orbit with its most recent launch. With its seventh flight, the firm's 57 ft tall two-stage booster Electron delivered the payloads from its New Zealand launch site into orbit within 56 minutes. The devices aboard included geospatial intelligence company BlackSky's Prometheus, two crafts from the US Special Operations Command called Global-3 microsatellite, as well as the cubesat ACRUX-1 for the Melbourne Space Program. The launch's payload mass was 80 kg, although the Electron is capable of carrying up to 225 kg.
US-based spaceflight start-up Rocket Lab successfully put seven small satellites into low-Earth orbit with its most recent launch. With its seventh flight, the firm's 57 ft tall two-stage booster Electron delivered the payloads from its New Zealand launch site into orbit within 56 minutes. The devices aboard included geospatial intelligence company BlackSky's Global-3 microsatellite, two crafts from the US Special Operations Command called Prometheus, as well as the cubesat ACRUX-1 for the Melbourne Space Program. The launch's payload mass was 80 kg, although the Electron is capable of carrying up to 225 kg.