Wanganui Greenbench artist Julian Priest's pico satellite aboard the Falcon 9 rocket launched at 7.25 Sunday morning (New Zealand time).
But he'll have to wait until May 4 for his satellite to be sent into its own orbit.
Priest said that after the previous launch delays, he was back at the Ward Observatory on Sunday to set up his mission control with a core group of 15, to watch the successful liftoff.
The Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral with the "Dragon module" of satellites that separated in the second stage shortly after liftoff, and then drifted into the "blackness of space".
"This all went according to plan," said an excited Priest, whose satellite is inside one of the Cubesats, called a Kicksat, on board the Dragon.