Electron is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle (with an optional third stage) developed by the American aerospace company Rocket Lab. Electron is a small-lift launch vehicle designed to launch small satellites and cubesats to sun-synchronous orbit and low earth orbit. The Electron is the first orbital class rocket to use electric-pump-fed engines, powered by the 9 Rutherford engines on the first stage. It is also used as a suborbital testbed (called HASTE) for hypersonics research.
facts
providerRocket Lab
countryUSA
classsmall
payload to LEOkg300
reusableno
first flight2017-05-25
flights total99
flights successful95
last flight2026-09-19
next flight2026-09-26
statusactive
price per launchUSD6,000,000
heightm18
diameterm1.2
masskg13,000
crawled events
- noise2026-11-02Rocket Lab launches 10th dedicated Electron mission for iQPS
- notable2026-10-28Rocket Lab's Neutron hardware arrives at Launch Complex 3 for pad testing
- noise2026-10-23Rocket Lab launches three more HawkEye 360 Hawk satellites
- notable2026-10-06NASA eyes bulk rocket purchases for its Moon Base amid Falcon 9 squeeze
- major2026-09-30Rocket Lab signs 20-launch Electron deal with Synspective, its largest ever
- noise2026-09-26Rocket Lab launches Synspective's 13th StriX SAR satellite
- notable2026-09-25Rocket Lab CFO Adam Spice signals more acquisitions ahead
- notable2026-09-24Iridium shareholders approve Rocket Lab acquisition
- noise2026-09-19Rocket Lab launches Synspective's 12th StriX SAR satellite
- notable2026-09-15Rocket Lab completes $1.94 billion ATM to fully fund Iridium acquisition
- noise2026-09-11Rocket Lab launches BlackSky's 5th Gen-3 satellite on confidential Electron mission
- notable2026-09-11Rocket Lab protests NASA's Mars orbiter award to Blue Origin
latest 12 of 36 items naming this entity
timeline
- 20232023-09-19incidentWe Will Never Desert You (Capella Acadia 2) launch failureoutcome: Launch Failurecause: Ignition failure of the 2nd stage after separation.as of 2026-07-08
- 20212021-05-15incidentRunning Out of Toes (BlackSky 8-9) launch failureoutcome: Launch Failurecause: Unspecified issue shortly after stage two ignitionas of 2026-07-08
- 20202020-07-04incidentPics Or It Didn’t Happen (Rideshare) launch failureoutcome: Launch Failurecause: Launch vehicle suffered an anomaly during the second stage that resulted in the loss of the mission and all satellite payloads.as of 2026-07-08
- 20172017-05-25incidentIt's a Test launch failureoutcome: Launch Failurecause: Third-party contractor supporting the launch misconfigured ground equipment that translated radio signals from the rocket into data used by range safety officials. That caused “extensive corruption of received position data,†resulting in the data loss that led safety officials to trigger the rocket’s flight termination system.as of 2026-07-08
sources
[1] ll.thespacedevs.com ↗
provider2026-07-05country2026-07-05class2026-07-05payload to LEO (kg)2026-07-05reusable2026-07-05first flight2026-07-05flights total2026-11-05flights successful2026-11-05last flight2026-09-21next flight2026-09-21status2026-07-05price per launch (USD)2026-07-05height (m)2026-07-08diameter (m)2026-07-08mass (kg)2026-07-08
faq
Who builds Electron?
Electron is built by Rocket Lab. as of 2026-07-05
How many times has Electron flown?
Electron has flown 99 times. as of 2026-11-05
When did Electron first fly?
Electron first flew on 2017-05-25. as of 2026-07-05
Is Electron reusable?
Electron is not reusable. as of 2026-07-05