Live coverage: Kennedy Space Center to reopen Friday

Rocket Lab’s first operational launch took off from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 10:50 p.m. EST Saturday (0350 GMT Sunday). The Electron rocket is carrying six CubeSats and a tech demo payload into orbit for customers in the United States, Australia, and Germany.

SpaceX could use its Starship vehicles to clear out space debris in Earth orbit, alongside the program’s more publicized purpose of ferrying people and cargo to the moon and Mars, a company executive said.

Data from the Jan. 19 in-flight launch escape demonstration of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft indicate the performance of the capsule’s SuperDraco abort engines was “flawless” as the thrusters boosted the ship away from the top of a Falcon 9 rocket with a peak acceleration of about 3.3Gs, officials said Thursday.