A small rocket offering more control over the destination orbit.
Electron is Rocket Lab's small orbital launcher, developed through connections between New Zealand and the United States. It carries satellites, with no cabin or crew.
Its first test in May 2017 from the Māhia Peninsula reaches space but not orbit. The second flight, in January 2018, successfully reaches orbit and deploys its satellites.
The programme addresses a specific need: giving small payloads a dedicated mission rather than relying entirely on available space aboard a much larger rocket.
Selected representative missions; crew names belong to the flight shown.
The first test reaches a space altitude but does not achieve orbital velocity.
The second test achieves the first orbital success, deploying small commercial satellites.
Dates follow the days reported by the source agencies, generally in local time; the UTC day can differ. Crews belong to the selected missions, not every flight in the family.
Electron illustrates the increasing specialisation of launch vehicles in an era of small satellites and miniaturised instruments.
First flight or first test of the family, including unsuccessful or suborbital attempts.
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