Rocket Lab Launching 7 Satellites Early Saturday Morning: Watch Live

News
By Mike Wall
published

Liftoff is scheduled for 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT).

A Rocket Lab Electron booster on the launch pad in New Zealand ahead of the planned June 27 launch of the "Make It Rain" mission.
A Rocket Lab Electron booster on the launch pad in New Zealand ahead of the planned June 27 launch of the "Make It Rain" mission. (Image credit: Rocket Lab)

Spaceflight startup Rocket Lab will launch seven small satellites to orbit early Saturday morning (June 29), and you can watch the action live.

A Rocket Lab Electron booster is scheduled to lift off from the company's New Zealand launch site Saturday, during a two-hour window that opens at 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT; 4:30 p.m. local New Zealand time).

You can follow the liftoff live here at Space.com, courtesy of Rocket Lab, or directly via the company. Coverage will start 20 minutes before launch.

Related: Rocket Lab and Its Electron Booster (Photos)

Saturday morning's launch, which was procured via Seattle-based company Spaceflight, will be the third Electron liftoff of the year and the seventh overall. 

Rocket Lab gives all of its missions a light-hearted name, and this one is called "Make It Rain" — a reference to Spaceflight's famously damp home city. (New Zealand is pretty wet as well.)

Among the satellites going up Saturday are two Prometheus craft, which will be operated by the United States Special Operations Command, and the ACRUX-1 cubesat from the Melbourne Space Program, an educational organization that aims to give Australian students hands-on experience with space projects.

The total payload mass on the launch is 176 lbs. (80 kilograms), Rocket Lab representatives said. The two-stage, 57-foot-tall (17 meters) Electron is capable of lofting about 500 lbs. (227 kg) to orbit on each $5 million liftoff.

Saturday's launch was originally scheduled for Thursday morning (June 27), but Rocket Lab pushed things back a day twice, to perform additional checks on ground equipment.

Editor's note: This story has been updated multiple times to provide new targeted launch times and dates. 

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.