Rocket Lab Deploys Six Customer Payloads to Orbit Via Electron Vehicle; Peter Beck Quoted

Rocket Lab on Monday launched into orbit six spacecraft for its government and commercial clients as part of the 19th mission of its Electron rocket.

The Electron rocket for the They Go Up So Fast mission lifted off from a launch complex in New Zealand to field the six customer payloads, including a technology demonstrator for the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command and a CubeSat for Care Weather Technologies, Rocket Lab said Monday.

The launch services provider also fielded its in-house built Photon Pathstone spacecraft to support NASA’s Capstone lunar mission. The spacecraft has been launched to test its deep space radio capability, star trackers, sun sensors and its updated reaction control system.

“Not only did we deploy six customer satellites, but we also deployed our own pathfinding spacecraft to orbit in preparation for our Moon mission later this year,” said , founder and CEO of Rocket Lab.

To date, Rocket Lab has launched a total of 104 satellites to orbit.