Rocket Lab completes 98th mission

Rocket Lab completes 98th mission | Advanced Television

October 27, 2026

By Chris Forrester

New Zealand and California-based Rocket Lab says it has successfully completed its 98th Electron launch, deploying three satellites for HawkEye 360. The mission, titled We’re Not Hawking Around, lifted off from its New Zealand Launch Complex 1 on October 21st following a 24-hour delay. Rocket Lab said the three Hawk satellites were deployed to a 520km low Earth orbit.

HawkEye 360’s constellation is used to collect signals intelligence for defence and security missions, according to Rocket Lab. The launch was described as Rocket Lab’s third dedicated mission for the company.

Rocket Lab also talked about an upcoming milestone, and its 100th Electron launch. The company said its next mission from New Zealand’s Launch Complex 1 is scheduled for no earlier than November 3rd and will support a constellation expansion for customer iQPS. iQPS is a Japanese company focusing on radar satellites.

The upcoming mission, The Sea God Surveys, is expected to deploy another QPS-SAR satellite to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab said it will be the 10th iQPS mission flown on Electron since 2023.

Rocket Lab’s share price has stalled over the past few weeks as a result of its production delays to its all-new Neutron rocket. However, industry observer Shay Boloor reminds observers that delays in rocket developments are far from new. “When SpaceX’s Falcon 9 was roughly three years late and Falcon Heavy nearly 5=five yet both went on to become massive successes.”

Boloor suggests that 40 months is a quite typical delay, and the Neutron ~26 month postponement is understandable. He cites 40+ month delays for Ariane 6, the ULA’s Vulcan Centaur, SpaceX Falcon Heavy and the extreme delays suffered by the Jeff Bezos-backed New Glenn rocket.

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