Rocket Lab’s second Electron rocket has arrived at its launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, the company said Nov. 14.
Potential dates for the rocket’s flight will be announced in the coming weeks, the company said. Besides being a test vehicle, the rocket will carry a Planet Earth-imaging Dove satellite and Spire Lemur-2 satellites for weather mapping and ship traffic tracking.
Rocket Lab launched its first Electron in May (Defense Daily, May 25). While the two-stage rocket made it into space, it did not reach orbit because a ground equipment glitch forced the flight to be ended early (Defense Daily, Aug. 7).
Rocket Lab, which is based in Huntington Beach, Calif., and Auckland, New Zealand, is developing the Electron to deliver small satellites to low Earth orbit. It ultimately hopes to reach a pace of more than 50 launches a year.