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Rocket Lab sends Electron rocket into orbit

Rocket Lab launch
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket rises from its New Zealand launch pad. (Rocket Lab via YouTube)

Rocket Lab’s two-stage Electron rocket successfully reached Earth orbit and deployed satellites for the first time today, raising hopes for far more ambitious missions to the moon.

Today’s mission, which went up from Rocket Lab’s launch complex on the tip of New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, followed up on the company’s maiden launch last May — which sent an Electron into space but fell short of reaching orbit due to data transmission issues.

This mission was nicknamed “Still Testing,” but unlike the first mission, the objective was not merely to test Rocket Lab’s hardware. The rocket had the additional task of putting three nanosatellites in orbit: an Earth-imaging Dove satellite for Planet, and two Lemur-2 satellites that the Spire space venture would use for tracking ships and monitoring weather.

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Rocket Lab celebrates coming close to orbit

Rocket Lab Peter Beck celebrates
Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck cheers the first Electron rocket launch. (Rocket Lab via YouTube)

Rocket Lab didn’t quite make it to orbit on its first try, but the company’s CEO says he’s “very happy” with the Electron rocket’s performance nevertheless.

“We got a lot further than certainly we expected,” founder and CEO Peter Beck told reporters today, hours after the maiden launch from Rocket Lab’s pad on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.

Beck repeatedly stressed that the company still has to analyze the data from the flight. However, he said a preliminary review indicated that the two-stage rocket’s performance was nominal until second-stage fairing separation.

He told GeekWire that the launch team had targeted a 300- to 500-kilometer orbit (200 to 300 miles) for its first test flight, nicknamed “It’s a Test.” Beck estimated that the second stage made it to a height of 250 kilometers (155 miles) before descending again on a suborbital trajectory.

Today Rocket Lab released a video of the countdown and launch that had a decidedly celebratory feel, highlighting the cheers in Mission Control when the rocket rose spaceward.

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Rocket Lab’s first test flight reaches space

Rocket Lab Electron launch
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket rises from its New Zealand launch pad. (Rocket Lab via Twitter)

Rocket Lab says its first Electron rocket “made it to space” after a test launch from a New Zealand pad, marking a big step toward its goal of putting payloads into orbit for $5 million.

Liftoff came at 4:20 p.m. May 25 New Zealand time (9:20 p.m. PT May 24), after earlier opportunities had to be passed up due to weather concerns.

In a statement, Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said the rocket achieved an outer-space altitude but fell short of going orbital.

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Flying saucer? No, it’s a drone pizza delivery

Image: Pizza drone
A Flirtey drone lowers a pizza box from the skies above Auckland, New Zealand. (Credit: Domino’s)

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises and Flirtey teamed up today to demonstrate a drone delivery system that could theoretically bring you a pizza in 30 minutes or less – from the air.

The first delivery was lowered by tether onto a picnic blanket spread out beneath drippy skies at a test site in Auckland, New Zealand. Within a minute, Transport Minister Simon Bridges and other dignitaries were sampling the wares and nodding in approval.

Flights are due to expand to customer homes in New Zealand later this year.

Why New Zealand?

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