Rocket Lab launches Electron for the 100th time, orbiting a Japanese Earth-observation satellite
The Mountain God Rises mission lifted off from New Zealand on 14 November 2026. According to CEO Peter Beck, Rocket Lab reached 100 launches faster than any other commercial rocket developer.
Rocket Lab carried out the 100th orbital launch of its Electron rocket on 14 November 2026, ixbt.com reports. The vehicle lifted off from a launch site in New Zealand and placed a private Japanese Earth-observation satellite into orbit ixbt.com
ixbt.comixbt.comOpen source ↗. The anniversary mission was named The Mountain God Rises.
Rocket Lab began test launches of Electron in May 2017. The first flight failed, but in January 2018 the rocket successfully delivered several CubeSat satellites to low Earth orbit. Since then the 18-metre Electron has become one of the most sought-after light-class rockets, regularly delivering small payloads for commercial and government customers.
According to founder and CEO Peter Beck, the company reached 100 launches faster than any other commercial developer of orbital rockets, including SpaceX with its Falcon 9. He also stated that Electron's reliability stands at 96% across the previous 99 missions.
