Photos: Launch boosts satellite for U.S. allies

Rocket Lab’s fifth flight of the year is set for liftoff as soon as Wednesday (U.S. time) carrying a small experimental satellite to orbit for Astro Digital, a Silicon Valley company aiming to demonstrate technologies in space after an earlier focus on Earth observation.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to loft the fifth batch of Iridium Next mobile communications satellites stands vertical on Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

A technology demonstration microsatellite for Astro Digital rode a Rocket Lab Electron launcher into orbit Wednesday (U.S. time) from New Zealand, setting the stage for the debut of new systems on the next Electron flight as engineers move closer to retrieving and reusing the rocket’s first stage.