Space News by Jeff Foust — May 5, 2019
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully launched three technology demonstration satellites for the Defense Department May 5 as part of an effort by the military to demonstrate responsive launch.
The Electron rocket lifted off at 2:00 a.m. Eastern from Rocket Lab’s launch site on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand’s North Island. The launch was delayed a day in order to perform additional checks of the vehicle’s payload of three satellites. Those satellites were released by the rocket’s kick stage nearly 55 minutes after liftoff.
“Perfect flight, complete mission success, all payloads deployed!!†Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, tweeted shortly after payload deployment.
More:
https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-launches-three-u-s-military-satellites/
