Watch Rocket Lab try a second time to fly its rocket to orbit
Tonight, US spaceflight startup Rocket Lab is set to launch its experimental Electron rocket for the second time. The test flight will validate if the vehicle is ready for sending small commercial payloads to orbit. The rocket is slated to take off from the company’s launch facility in New Zealand, sometime after 2:30PM NZT (9:30PM ET). And unlike the Electron’s first test flight, we’ll get to see this one go up live.
Though, it’s possible this vehicle may not get off the ground today: Rocket Lab has cautioned that since this is a test flight, the company won’t fly unless conditions are more than ideal for launch and only if the rocket is truly ready. Plus, Rocket Lab has a 10-day launch window for this vehicle, and it has the option to...