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Electron lifting off

Vehicle file · LV-26

Electron

Rocket Lab · IN SERVICE

Electron is an expendable orbital launch vehicle built by Rocket Lab. It stands 18.0 m tall, lifts 300 kg to low Earth orbit, first flew on 25 May 2017. It has flown 93 times with 89 successes, a success rate of 95.7%. Its next flight is Electron | Owl Around The World (StriX Launch 11) for Rocket Lab, no earlier than 2026-08-31 12:05:00Z.

Specification

Vehicle spec sheet

PUBLISHED
Height18.0 m
Diameter1.2 m
Payload to LEO300 kg
Payload to GTONOT PUBLISHED
Maiden flight25 May 2017
ReusableNo — expendable
Launch cost$6,000,000M
StatusIn service

Flight record

Reliability

ON RECORD
Total flights93
Successful89
Failed4
Success rate95.7%
Landing attempts9
Landing success77.8% (7)
Scheduled42

About Electron

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.

Upcoming flights

Common questions

How many times has Electron flown?
Electron has flown 93 orbital missions, with 89 successes and 4 failures. A further 42 flights are on the manifest.
What is Electron's success rate?
Electron has a success rate of 95.7%, from 89 successful flights out of 93 attempts. Booster recovery succeeds 77.8% of the time across 9 landing attempts.
When is the next Electron launch?
The next Electron flight is Electron | Owl Around The World (StriX Launch 11), operated by Rocket Lab, scheduled no earlier than 2026-08-31 12:05:00Z from Unknown Pad.
How much can Electron lift to orbit?
Electron is rated for 300 kg to low Earth orbit. These are the operator's published maximums and assume an expendable or fully optimised configuration.
Is Electron reusable?
No. Electron is expendable: every stage is discarded during flight and nothing is recovered for reflight.