Rocket Lab successfully launches NRO satellite

A light-class Electron launcher built and owned by Rocket Lab fired into orbit Thursday (U.S. time) from a privately-owned spaceport in New Zealand with a top secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. The 55-foot-tall (17-meter) rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 — located on Mahia Peninsula on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island — at 9:56 p.m. EST Thursday (0256 GMT; 3:56 p.m. New Zealand time on Friday). More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 31)