Stunning photo captures beauty of Rocket Lab's first night flight

"It was my first rocket launch and to see it right here in my home town was pretty awesome to see." Photo / Canaan Akuhata-Brown/Cinema East

A Hawke's Bay photographer has captured the shot of a lifetime of with a stunning picture of Rocket Lab's first night launch.

Mahia man Canaan Akuhata-Brown was lucky enough to be in prime position to see it launch, thanks to one of his mates who works for Rocket Lab.

"He called me saying that the rocket was being launched in about 10 minutes so I quickly rushed down to a good spot. It's lucky I only live five minutes away," he said.

He shot the rocket by taking a 30-second shot, a method which allows more light to enter in the frame for a longer amount of time and resulted in the amazing trail from the rocket in the photo.

"I was surprised how bright it came out in the photo."

All in all he was pretty happy with how the photo came out, but he doesn't think it's perfect.

"I would have liked to try and get it coming off the peninsula to get the full arch of it, but hey ...

"It was my first rocket launch and to see it right here in my home town was pretty awesome to see."

The STP-27RD payload consists of three satellites weighing in at a total of 180kg. Photo / Supplied

The launch wasn't just a spectacle in Mahia. Most of Hawke's Bay could see the rocket fly across the sky from their back yards on what was a clear evening across the region.

People from as far as Central Hawke's Bay reported seeing it and it reportedly sparked at least two 111 calls to police about "flares" off the Hawke's Bay coast.

Police told Hawke's Bay Today on Monday they had no record of any such calls.

The rocket and its Curie upper stage will place three small satellites into orbit through the US Air Force's Rapid Agile Launch Initiative, Rocket Lab reported.

The satellite - STP-27RD - is the company's fifth orbital mission and second this year.

The Space Test Program is a US Government organisation responsible for mission design, spacecraft acquisition, integration, launch and on orbit operations for the
Department of Defence's most innovative space experiments, technologies and demonstrations.

The STP-27RD payload consists of three satellites weighing in at a total of 180kg.

In March, Rocket Lab successfully launched a communications satellite into low-Earth orbit for US military agency DARPA.