SPARC-1 – Spaceflight Now

December 13, 2025

Breaking News

[ December 13, 2025 ] Live coverage: SpaceX aims for 550th booster landing amid Saturday night flight Falcon 9
[ December 12, 2025 ] Study: Current, future megaconstellations risk space-based astronomy News
[ December 11, 2025 ] SpaceX breaks launch pad turnaround record with flight of Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Falcon 9
[ December 10, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 160th Falcon 9 rocket of 2025 Falcon 9
[ December 9, 2025 ] SpaceX launches classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office Falcon 9

Rocket Lab deploys experimental U.S. military smallsats on first night launch

May 5, 2019 Stephen Clark

On its first nighttime launch, Rocket Lab’s Electron booster climbed into orbit Sunday from New Zealand with a trio of small U.S. military payloads, demonstrating the privately-developed rocket’s ability to help meet the Air Force’s growing demand for smallsat launches.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches three U.S. military smallsats

May 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

Three experimental satellites sponsored by the U.S. military lifted off on an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab’s commercial spaceport in New Zealand on Sunday at 0600 GMT (2 a.m. EDT).