Rocket Lab launched a high-resolution Earth-imaging satellite toward low Earth orbit this evening (Feb. 18).
An Electron vehicle carrying the first "Gen-3" satellite for the geospatial intelligence company Blacksky lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site today at 6:17 p.m. EST (2317 GMT; 12:17 p.m. on Feb. 19 local New Zealand time).
Electron deployed the satellite into a circular orbit 292 miles (470 kilometers) above Earth about 55.5 minutes after liftoff as planned, Rocket Lab announced via X.
Rocket Lab, which likes to give its launches playful names, called today's mission "Fasten Your Space Belts."
"'Fasten Your Space Belts' will be Rocket Lab's ninth launch overall for BlackSky across multiple launch contracts beginning from 2019," Rocket Lab wrote in a prelaunch mission description. "The mission will introduce their newest 35cm high-resolution Gen-3 satellites to orbit, allowing them to greatly enhance and optimize their geospatial intelligence capabilities."
Related: Rocket Lab launches 5 IoT satellites on landmark 50th mission (video)
PAYLOAD DEPLOYMENT CONFIRMED! That’s mission success for Electron’s 60th launch 🚀 Welcome to space, @blacksky_inc pic.twitter.com/XPgwXCGuTGFebruary 19, 2025
"Fasten Your Space Belts" was Rocket Lab's second launch of 2025. The company launched a total of 16 missions last year — 14 with the 59-foot-tall (18 meters) Electron and two with HASTE, a modified, suborbital version of the rocket that serves as a testbed for hypersonic technology.
"Fasten Your Space Belts" was part of a spaceflight one-two punch today. SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites just four minutes later, at 6:21 p.m. EST (2321 GMT).
Editor's note: This story was updated at 6:30 p.m. EST with news of successful liftoff.
