Curveball

Overview

Destination: Suborbital
Mission: Government/Top Secret

Suborbital Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

Sub-orbital launch under Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program, details TBD.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • June 12, 2026, 5:35 a.m.

Launch success.


Cosmic_Penguin • June 11, 2026, 1:53 p.m.

Liftoff.


Cosmic_Penguin • June 11, 2026, 4:04 a.m.

Hold, awaiting propellant losding,


Cosmic_Penguin • June 4, 2026, 1:18 p.m.

Added launch per air space closure notices (see also https://twitter.com/EShoreSpaceflt/status/2062237394133246409).


Electron

Family:
Configuration:

Electron is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle (with an optional third stage) developed by the American aerospace company Rocket Lab. Electron is a small-lift launch vehicle designed to launch small satellites and cubesats to sun-synchronous orbit and low earth orbit. The Electron is the first orbital class rocket to use electric-pump-fed engines, powered by the 9 Rutherford engines on the first stage. It is also used as a suborbital testbed (called HASTE) for hypersonics research.

See Details
Specifications
  • Minimum Stage
    2
  • Max Stage
    3
  • Length
    18.0 m
  • Diameter
    1.2 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    1.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    13.0 T
  • Thrust
    162.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Electron
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Electron
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $6000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    300.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    225.0 kg

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab

(RL)

CEO: Peter Beck Founded: 2006 Successes: 85 Failures: 4 Pending: 42

Agency Type:

Rocket Lab is an American aerospace manufacturer with a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary. The company develops lightweight, cost-effective commercial rocket launch services. The Electron Program was founded on the premise that small payloads such as CubeSats require dedicated small launch vehicles and flexibility not currently offered by traditional rocket systems. Its rocket, the Electron, is a light-weight rocket and is now operating commercially. The company is also producing a variety of spacecrafts and spacecrafts components.

INFO WIKI

Related News

NASASpaceflight

Launch Preview: Chinese, Rocket Lab, and Starlink flights scheduled

The upcoming week features flights from China, California, Virginia, and Florida. Three Starlink launches, two… The post Launch Preview: Chinese, Rocket Lab, and Starlink flights scheduled appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C)


Falcon 9
Success
13 hours, 58 minutes ago
Starlink Group 17-54
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Kinetica 1
Success
1 day, 1 hour ago
8 x Jilin-1
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

8 Earth observation satellites for the Jilin-1 commercial Earth observation satellites constellation: * High Resolution-04D 01-02 * High Resoluti…


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 16 hours ago
Starlink Group 10-54
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


H3-30
Success
4 days, 4 hours ago
H3-30 Test Flight
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 - Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

Test flight of the H3-30 variant of the H3 launch vehicle with 3 LE-9 engines in the first stage and no SRBs. The flight will carry a dummy main payl…


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 14 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-44
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
4 days, 21 hours ago
Curveball
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) - Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

Sub-orbital launch under Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program, details TBD.


Long March 5
Success
4 days, 22 hours ago
TJSW-25
101 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Zhuque-2E Block 2
Success
6 days, 21 hours ago
2 x SatNet DTC test satellites
Launch Area 96A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

A pair of demonstration satellites for Direct-To-Cell (DTC) communications from Low Earth Orbit for SpaceSail and China Mobile: * SpaceSail DTC 01…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 10-35
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Starlink Group 17-43
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. 2 US military Stars…