STP-27RD – Spaceflight Now

April 18, 2025

Breaking News

[ April 16, 2025 ] Northrop Grumman launches first Minotaur 4 rocket from Vandenberg in 14 years Minotaur 4
[ April 13, 2025 ] SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket booster on record-setting 27th time on midnight Starlink flight Falcon 9
[ April 12, 2025 ] SpaceX launches Starshield satellites for the NRO on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Falcon 9
[ April 10, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 400th flight-proven Falcon booster with Saturday Starlink mission Falcon 9
[ April 9, 2025 ] Poor weather forces a scrub of the Kuiper 1 launch on a ULA Atlas 5 Atlas 5

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).