Rocket Lab has created history by successfully launching its Electron and propelling New Zealand a step closer to the multi-billion dollar space industry.
The launch was announced at 4.28pm. The company said it had made it to space and the team was delighted.
Made it to space. Team delighted. More to follow! #ItsaTest
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLabUSA) May 25, 2017
The rocket lifted off from the company's pad at Mahia has made space history as it is the first time a rocket has been blasted into orbit from a private facility.
LISTEN ABOVE: Larry Williams speaks with Business Herald reporter Grant Bradley
New Zealand has become the 11th country to launch into space, joining superpowers and tech heavyweights.
Shortly before 1pm, In the leadup to today's launch, Rocket Lab said preparations had been going well after it had to scrub lift off yesterday just 12 minutes out.
#ItsaTest pic.twitter.com/KRo1iBB1wK
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLabUSA) May 25, 2017
The founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab, Peter Beck, has said while there would be some celebrations following a successful launch, the champagne would be flowing when the programme reached a commercial stage of taking satellite cargo into space after its three-vehicle test launch programme.
The 40-year-old Invercargill-raised engineer founded Rocket Lab in 2006.
The 17m tall rocket - with a silver fern on its nose and a US flag near its tail - lifted slowly from the launch pad before accelerating to speeds of more than 27,000kph to slip Earth's gravity and reach orbit during the two-and-a-half minute flight into orbit.
Electron was packing an estimated one million horsepower.
Rockets are not generally rated in horsepower, but for comparison, a Toyota Corolla has about 160hp and a distant cousin of the Electron, the Saturn V which launched men to the Moon, had more than 30 million hp.
Last year the United States-based Space Foundation estimated the space economy was worth close to $400b a year but Rocket Lab enters the small satellite market as it is becoming increasingly crowded by other private players.
Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges has said a successful commercial space industry had the potential to grow to be as big as the kiwifruit sector or wine industry but in a much quicker time frame than those sectors.
Last year the kiwifruit sector was worth close to $2billion and the wine industry $1.6b.
Bridges said the launch would be one of New Zealand's biggest technological achievements, putting it on the world map as an engineering innovator.
The Electron is made entirely of carbon-composite material and is designed to carry payloads of 225kg to an elliptical orbit and up to 150kg to a nominal 500km sun synchronous low earth orbit.
Three planned launches earlier this week were scrubbed.
While it can draw on up to $25m of government funding over five years, Rocket Lab's main backers include US companies Kholsa Ventures, Beesemer Venture Partners, Data Collective, Promus Ventures, Lockheed Martin and Stephen Tindall's K1W1.
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