Rocket Lab’s Electron Lifts Off for Eighth Rideshare Mission; Peter Beck Quoted

Rocket Lab has launched its Electron rocket carrying a maritime surveillance cube satellite built by space technology firm UnseenLabs as well as other payloads as part of the ‘Look Ma, No Hands’ mission.

Electron lifted off from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand along with payloads such as two U.S. Air Force technology demonstrators, a Global-4 geospatial imaging satellite from Spaceflight’s BlackSky division and other rideshare satellites built by the Herndon, Va.-based company, Rocket Lab said Tuesday.

According to Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, the launch builds on the company’s prior delivery of a BlackSky Global satellite, and that the mission was “another exciting step towards our plans to recover and reuse Electron’s first stage in future missions.”

Rocket Lab announced its plans to conduct the launch in July following the “Make It Rain” mission in late June. The recent mission serves as Electron’s fourth rideshare launch for 2019 and eighth launch overall.