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. In a press release, Rocket Lab's CEO Peter Beck said that his company's first flight was "a great success" and that it had "demonstrated our ability to safely deliver large payloads."
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.