Details of Hawke's Bay's Rocket Lab's next mission revealed

Rocket Lab already has its third mission set for 2019 with its next launch set to jet off in June from its Mahia base.

The mission, named "Make it Rain", is a nod to the high volume of rainfall in Seattle, where Rocket Lab client Spaceflight is headquartered.

The mission is Rocket Lab's seventh Electron launch overall and the company's third for 2019.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says rideshare launches, which "Make it Rain" is, have historically presented a challenge for small satellite operators, as they're often at the mercy of the primary payload's schedule and orbit.

"This exciting mission with Spaceflight demonstrates the new level of freedom now offered to small satellite operators thanks to Electron," Beck says.

"Rocket Lab puts small satellite operators in charge, offering an unmatched level of control over launch schedule. Thanks to Electron's Kick Stage, we also deliver the kind of precision orbital deployment normally reserved for a prime."

The spacecraft manifested on the mission will be delivered to precise, individual orbits by Electron's Kick Stage - a programme designed to deliver small satellites to orbits, before de-orbiting itself to leave no part of the rocket in space.

Rocket Lab has been delivering small satellites to orbit since January 2018. The company has launched 28 satellites on Electron for a range of government and commercial mission partners including NASA, the US Air Force Space Test Program and DARPA.

It's an exciting year for Rocket Lab as it's fully booked with monthly launches, scaling to a launch every two weeks by the end of the year.

The flight follows dedicated missions launched for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Air Force's Space Test Program in the first months of 2019.