Rocket carrying seven satellites lost after taking off from New Zealand

On Sunday, a commercial rocket got lost, carrying seven satellites, after taking off from a New Zealand launch pad.

The Rocket Lab’s founder and chief executive Peter Beck tweeted,

“I am incredibly sorry that we failed to deliver our customers’ satellites today. Rest assured we will find the issue, correct it and be back on the pad soon.”

We lost the flight late into the mission. I am incredibly sorry that we failed to deliver our customers satellites today. Rest assured we will find the issue, correct it and be back on the pad soon.

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— Peter Beck (@Peter_J_Beck) July 4, 2020

 

Rocket Lab is listed as the US corporation with headquarters in a wholly-owned New Zealand subsidiary and specializes in delivering small satellites to low Earth orbit.

Its supporters include Khosla Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Lockheed Martin, Promus Ventures and Data Collective from the United States.

The failed mission, the 13th launch of the company’s payload, was called “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen.”

Rocket Lab said in a company statement that it had experienced an “anomaly” four minutes into the flight and worked closely with the United States Federal Aviation Administration to identify the cause.

Beck said that the rocket was carrying satellites for different companies like Spaceflight, Canon Electronics, Planet, and In-Space Missions

“Today’s anomaly is a reminder that space launch can be unforgiving, but we will identify the issue, rectify it, and be safely back on the pad as soon as possible.”