List of Rocket Lab launches 2023

Unlike SpaceX, Rocket Lab doesn’t have a public goal set for the number of launches this year, but a clear one has emerged. For the first time Rocket Lab, with its Electron rocket, could reach double-digit launches in 2023; here’s a list of all of them to help you keep track.

Rocket Lab 2023 launches at a glance

Number of launches: 4

Launch success rate: 100%

Launch rate: 31.75 days

New Zealand launches: 2 (Pad A: 0, Pad B: 2)

Virginia, USA launches: 2

Total payload mass: ~394 kg

Successful recoveries: 1 (Attempts: 1)

US launch debut

While Rocket Lab has been a US launch company since its creation in 2006 and headquartered in Long Beach, California, it has only launched from its range in New Zealand until this year. The company’s pad at NASA’s Wallop Flight Facility in Virginia has been a work in progress for several years but finally saw action in January.

The launch, named Virginia is for Launch Lovers, carried three BlackSky satellites on an Electron rocket. Since then, Rocket Lab has launched a second mission from the pad it calls LC-2 and has several more scheduled.

NASA TROPICS return to flight

Rocket Lab won the contract to launch four satellites for NASA after the first launch failed on an Astra launch vehicle. The mission, TROPICS, will study the temperature of tropical storm systems at a much higher frequency than what was possible before.

The satellites will be split up over two launches and will also occur at Rocket Lab’s Virginia launch site this spring. While the planned constellation of six won’t be at full strength, it will still serve great scientific value if its launches are successful.

Capella Space to anchor four launches this year

A name we will often see this year is Capella Space. The company signed a contract to launch four of its third-generation satellites on Rocket Lab rockets. It also featured the second launch of this year, carrying two second-generation satellites into orbit in March.

These launches are currently scheduled to take place on Electron rockets from New Zealand rather than Virginia like the first one. However, it will anchor at most five total launches there, halfway to Electron getting to double digits in 2023.

List of Rocket Lab Electron launches in 2023

Date (UTC)	Mission	Payload	Launch Pad	Recovery
January 24	Virginia is for Launch Lovers	3 HawkEye 360 CubeSats	LC-2	No Attempt
March 16	Stronger Together	Capella 9 & 10	LC-2	No Attempt
March 24	The Beat Goes On	BlackSky 18 & 19	LC-1B	Successful Splashdown
April 7	Rocket Like a Hurricane	NASA TROPICS-2	LC-1B	No Attempt

Other launch trackers:

• SpaceX