Hello All,

Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle has successfully reached orbit! This article (see: http://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/2...ul-test-launch/ ) contains the particulars. (One unusual "First"--having rocket engines with electrically-driven propellant pumps, its second stage jettisoned a spent battery pack during ascent in order to reduce the total mass of the second stage and its multiple-CubeSat payloads.) Here (see: http://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/2...om-new-zealand/ ) is a video of the flight.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
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NAR #54895 SR