Q&A with Curt Blake, president of Spaceflight Industries (members only)

Two Chinese satellites launched into the wrong orbit Dec. 28 have reached their planned perch at an altitude of around 300 miles and sent back their first high-resolution views of Earth for their Beijing-based commercial owner.

A week after scrubbing a launch attempt to evaluate an issue with an oxygen sensor, Rocket Lab launched a mission Wednesday to deliver 10 small commercial Earth observation satellites to orbit. Liftoff of the Electron booster from Rocket Lab’s spaceport in New Zealand occurred at 5:21 p.m. EDT (2121 GMT).

Rocket Lab’s light-class Electron launcher is set to take off on its fifth flight from New Zealand, aiming for a 264-mile-high (425-kilometer) orbit with DARPA’s R3D2 technology demonstration satellite.