Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket fails, apologises to Capella Space

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Space company Rocket Lab’s latest launch from Mahia ended in a rare failure yesterday.

“Following lift-off from Launch Complex 1, the rocket successfully completed a first stage burn and stage separation as planned before an issue was experienced at around T+ 2 minutes and 30 seconds into flight, resulting in the end of the mission,” Rocket Lab senior communications director Morgan Bailey said.

“We are deeply sorry to our partners Capella Space for the loss of the mission.

“We are working closely with the FAA and supporting agencies as the investigation into the root cause commences.

“The Electron rocket has previously delivered 171 satellites to orbit across 37 successful orbital missions. We will identify the issue swiftly and implement corrective actions and return to the pad shortly.

“Our next mission, currently scheduled before the end of the third quarter, will be postponed while we implement corrective actions. We anticipate providing revised third quarter revenue guidance in the coming days.”

The mission — titled We Will Never Desert You — was for American space tech company Capella Space, a provider of commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery.