Electron – Page 12 – Spaceflight Now

Rocket Lab delays debut of new launcher to dodge bad weather

May 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab, a company eyeing a market to launch small satellites, said Monday that bad weather at its privately-operated launch base on New Zealand’s North Island kept a commercial Electron booster from lifting off on its maiden test flight for the second day in a row.

Small satellite launcher set for first orbital test flight this week

May 20, 2017 Stephen Clark

The first test flight of Rocket Lab’s commercially-developed Electron launcher was held up by weather Sunday, but conditions could improve for a launch attempt Monday from New Zealand to place an instrumented rocket stage into Earth orbit in a demonstration of the company’s low-cost delivery system for lightweight satellites.

NASA to fly CubeSats on three new commercial launchers

October 16, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Wednesday it is joining a chorus of companies pushing for easier access to space, awarding $17.1 million in contracts to three firms developing new launchers tailored for lifting lightweight satellites into orbit.

Rocket Lab plans for New Zealand launch base

July 9, 2015 Stephen Clark

The chief executive of Rocket Lab, a venture capital-backed space firm set up to provide dedicated launch services for microsatellites, says the company is on track to complete construction of a new orbital launch site on New Zealand’s South Island by the end of 2015.