Picture-perfect hopes for Thursday rocket launch from Mahia

The promise of a picture-perfect rocket launch across Hawke Bay at the end of this week is literally up in the clouds if it's unable to get underway at first shot.

Rocket Lab has a two-week 4.43pm to 6.32pm daily window available for a southern trajectory which agents say will be a good one for viewing along the East Coast.

National weather forecasters MetService agree, if a possible nor'westerly doesn't stop a Day 1 launch taking place.

A clear but mysterious view off the Hawke's Bay coast after a launch from Mahia last year. Photo / Supplied

If it does intervene it could be several days before both a launch and good viewing are possible, due to a southerly front expected from the South Island.

The launch is the 12th for Rocket Lab from its Mahia Peninsula Electron launch pad, where it first launched commercially on January 21, 2018, after a range of test flights which had started eight months earlier.

It's billed as a timeshare mission for Nasa, the US National Reconnaissance Office and the University of New South Wales Canberra Space.

Its name – Don't Stop Me Now - and patch are dedicated to Rocket Lab board member Scott Smith who died in February, and carries the name of his favourite song, Queen's Don't Stop Me Now.

A second launch pad is being built within the Mahia complex to enable more launches.