Rocket Lab mission failure update

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Space company Rocket Lab says all safety precautions worked as designed during the loss of a mission shortly after lift-off from its Māhia space port.

The September 19 mission was lost when an issue was experienced at around

T+2 minutes and 30 seconds into flight.

“The failure occurred several hundred kilometres out to sea, down-range from the launch site, Rocket Lab senior communications director Morgan Bailey said in response to a query from The Gisborne Herald about if there had been a detonation onboard the rocket.

“There was not a “detonation” as such, rather the engine stopped burning, causing the stage to fall back to Earth.

“Electron remained within the pre-determined safety corridor at all times and all safety systems performed as expected. Launch Complex 1 was unaffected by the anomaly and the site remains ready to support the next launch.”

Rocket Lab is working closely with the Federation Aviation Administration and supporting agencies as an investigation into the root cause continues.

Launches from Māhia are on pause until the investigation is complete.