Electron is a two-stage small-lift launch vehicle built and operated by Rocket Lab. The rocket has been launched to orbit 89 times with 85 successes and four failures. A suborbital version of the rocket, HASTE, has been successfully launched nine times.
The first flight, known as "It's a Test", launched on 25 May 2017. The mission failed due to a glitch in communication equipment on the ground. Successful follow-on missions, including "Still Testing", "It's Business Time" and "This One's For Pickering", delivered multiple small payloads to low Earth orbit. Flight 26 was the first Electron flight to attempt a full catch recovery using a mid-air helicopter catch. "Scout's Arrow" was the first suborbital launch of the rocket.
In July 2019, Rocket Lab expected to have launches every two weeks in 2020. In June 2020, with a new Electron launch vehicle built every 18 days, Rocket Lab was planning to deliver monthly launches for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021, including the company's first launch from Wallops LC-2 in 2023 and a mission to the Moon for NASA aboard Electron and Rocket Lab's spacecraft bus platform Photon in 2022.
Launch statistics
Launch outcomes
Launch sites
Booster tests and recoveries
Rocket configurations
Orbital launches 2017–2018 Electron launched for the first time in May 2017, but the rocket was destroyed by the range safety officer after a telemetry loss, which was later attributed to a ground software failure. Electron experienced its first successful launch in January 2018, and launched their first mission for NASA in December 2018. Flight No. Name Date/time(UTC) Launch site Payload Payload mass Destination Customer(s) Launch outcome Booster recovery 1 "It's a Test" 25 May 2017, 04:20 Mahia, LC-1A None None 500 km, 85° LEO Rocket Lab (flight test) The rocket successfully launched and performed first stage separation and fairing separation. After reaching an altitude of about (planned at 85° inclination), the telemetry feed to the range safety officer was lost and the rocket was destroyed by range safety officer. Post-flight analysis determined the issue to be a simple ground software failure rather than a problem with the rocket. The ground software issue was found to be a contractor's failure to enable forward error correction on their hardware leading to data corruption. Rocket Lab made no changes to the Electron vehicle and instead implemented adjustment to procedures to prevent similar problems. 2 "Still Testing" 21 January 2018, 01:43 Mahia, LC-1A 400 km, 82.9° LEO Carrying CubeSats for Planet Labs and Spire Global. The two Lemur-2 satellites were put into a circularized orbit by the new "Electron kick stage" which was not announced until after the launch. Between December 2017 and January 2018 the launch was delayed six times due to weather, orbital traffic, rocket, and range safety issues. Put Lemur-2 payloads into high orbit at 85.0° inclination while the Dove Pioneer satellite was put into a x . 3 "It's Business Time" 11 November 2018, 03:50 Mahia, LC-1A Approx 500 km, 85° LEO The 11 November 2018 launch was successful; all cubesats planned to be deployed were deployed in orbit. The launch, originally planned for April 2018, had been delayed several times: to June/July after unusual behavior was identified in a motor controller during a wet dress rehearsal, by a few days after a ground tracking antenna issue in the Chatham Island tracking station and indefinitely after another motor controller issue. In October 2018, a nine-day launch window was announced starting 11 November 2018. 4 "This One's For Pickering" 16 December 2018, 06:33 Mahia, LC-1A 500 km, 85° LEO NASA Multiple CubeSats for the NASA-sponsored ELaNa-19 mission. They were deployed from RailPOD dispensers. Was the first NASA mission for Rocket Lab.
2019 Electron launched 6 times, all successfully, in 2019. First launch for the U.S. Air Force in May. Flight No. Name Date/time(UTC) Launch site Payload Payload Mass Destination Customer(s) Launch outcome Booster recovery 5 "Two Thumbs Up" 28 March 2019, 23:27 Mahia, LC-1A R3D2 425 km, 39.5° LEO DARPA Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) will qualify a new type of membrane reflectarray antenna. Northrop Grumman serves as the prime contractor for R3D2. Blue Canyon Technologies provided the satellite bus, MMA Design provided the antenna. 6 "That's a Funny Looking Cactus" 5 May 2019, 06:00 Mahia, LC-1A 500 km, 40° LEO U.S. Air Force Launch is part of the "Rapid Agile Launch Initiative" (RALI) for the U.S. Air Force. Was first night launch of an Electron and its heaviest payload up to the time. 7"Make it Rain" 29 June 2019, 04:30 Mahia, LC-1A 450 km, 45° LEO BlackSky Global 3 is part of a constellation of Earth-observing satellites. SpaceBEE cubesats are manufactured by Swarm Technologies to test two-way satellite communication and data relay. SpaceBEE 8 weighs 0.4 kg (0.88 lb) while SpaceBEE 9 weighs 0.7 kg (1.54 lb). 8 "Look Ma, No Hands" 19 August 2019, 12:12 Mahia, LC-1A Approx. 510 km, 94.8° LEO Breizh Recon Orbiter (BRO-1) is part of a constellation used for tracking maritime vessels. BlackSky Global 4 is part of a constellation of Earth-observing satellites. The two experimental satellites for Air Force Space Command are part of the "Pearl White" technology demonstration program. 9 "As the Crow Flies" 17 October 2019, 01:22 Mahia, LC-1A Approx. 1200 km, 87.9° LEO Palisade is a 16U CubeSat technology demonstrator satellite. An upgraded, bi-propellant kick stage lifted the satellite to a 1200 km circular orbit, and then deorbited itself. 10 "Running Out Of Fingers" 6 December 2019, 08:18Mission: "Running out of Fingers". Rocket Lab. Mahia, LC-1A Approx. 385 x 400 km, 97°LEO ALE-2 creates artificial shooting star displays. ATL-1 tests thermal insulation in space. FossaSat-1 is a communications satellite that uses low-power radio frequencies to provide internet connectivity. NOOR-1A and NOOR-1B demonstrated intersatellite link technology. SMOG-P uses a spectrum analyzer to measure electromagnetic pollution. TRSI Sat provides flight tracking services. The six satellites other than ALE-2 are PocketQubes, forming Alba Cluster 2 of Alba Orbital.
This mission also was the first guided, full telemetry re-entry of the Electron launch vehicle's first stage as part of Rocket Lab's plans to re-use and re-fly rocket boosters in future missions. Recovery instrumentation on-board this flight included guidance and navigation hardware, including S-band telemetry and on-board flight computer systems, to live-gather data during the first stage's atmospheric re-entry, as well as a reaction control system to orient the booster. After the launch Rocket Lab said that the reusability tests were successful.
First flight of Electron with a fully autonomous flight termination system on the rocket.
2020 First launch for the National Reconnaissance Office in January 2020.
First launch of Photon kickstage in August 2020. Flight No. Name Date/time(UTC) Launch site Payload Payload Mass Destination Customer(s) Launch outcome Booster recovery "Birds of a Feather" 31 January 2020, 02:56 Mahia, LC-1A NROL-151 590 km x 610 km, 70.9° LEO National Reconnaissance Office First launch for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The NRO competitively awarded the contract under the Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract vehicle. RASR allows the NRO to explore new launch opportunities that can provide a streamlined, commercial approach for getting small satellites into space. For the second time, the Electron booster survived atmospheric re-entry. Rocket Lab again said that their reusability test was successful. 12 "Don't Stop Me Now" 13 June 2020,05:12:12 Mahia, LC-1A 570*590 km, 97.75° LEO NRO, Boston University / NASA and University of New South Wales Canberra Space and the Royal Australian Air Force. Part of the ELaNa 32 mission, is a satellite designed to study Earth's magnetic field. The M2 Pathfinder satellite will be a technology demonstration satellite to test communications. The flight will also carry three payloads for the NRO. Rocket Lab does not plan to do any recovery testing. Flight delayed due to COVID-19. A launch attempt on 11 June 2020 was canceled due to bad weather. ANDESITE consists of ANDESITE Mule, a 6U parent spacecraft, and ANDESITE Node 1 to Node 8, small magnetometer subsatellites to be ejected from it to study magnetospheric variation. Each Node is 0.20 x 0.10 x 0.025 m in size with a mass of 0.38 kg. 13 "Pics Or It Didn't Happen" 4 July 202021:19:36 Mahia, LC-1A Approx. 500 km, 97.5° SSO Launch of five SuperDoves as part of Planet's Flock 4e. Flight failed during 2nd stage burn. The issue was found to be a single faulty electrical connection that was not caught during preflight testing. The wiring was intermittently secure leading to increasing resistance causing heating and thermal expansion. This caused softening of potting compounds around the connection leading to a disconnect. The disconnect lead to power being cut from the electric turbopumps needed for the Rutherford engine leading the engine to be shut down. No changes were made to the vehicle but changes were made to "work instructions and quality signoffs". 14 "I Can't Believe It's Not Optical" 31 August 202003:05:47 Mahia, LC-1A 100 kg 500 km, 45° LEO Capella Space Return to flight of Electron after the 4 July 2020 launch failure. Launch of a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite, for global imagery. Also launched the Photon satellite bus. 15 "In Focus" 28 October 202021:21:27 Mahia, LC-1A 72 kg 500 km, 97.5° SSO After satellite deployed kick stage changed orbital inclination. 16 "Return To Sender" 20 November 202002:20:01 Mahia, LC-1A 200 kg 500 km, 97.3° SSO (Ocean landing) First Electron to attempt a soft ocean landing by parachute with the booster and recovery by vessel. 17 "The Owl's Night Begins" 15 December 202010:09:27 Mahia, LC-1A StriX-α 150 kg 500 km, 97.3° SSO Synspective Test satellite weighing using synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) from a Japanese company. Part of a future constellation of 25 satellites to provide global coverage. Satellite was encompassed in an expanded fairing. First of 47 dedicated launches for Synspective's StriX constellation.
2021 First launch for US Space Force in July 2021. Flight