Rocket Lab just launched its first mission of 2026.<\/p>\n
An Electron<\/a> rocket carrying two satellites for the European company Open Cosmos lifted off from Rocket Lab<\/a>‘s New Zealand site today (Jan. 22) at 5:52 a.m. EST (1052 GMT; 11:52 p.m. local time in New Zealand).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Electron’s “kick stage” deployed the two spacecraft into a circular orbit 1,050 kilometers (652 miles) above Earth as planned about 70 minutes after liftoff.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Mission success. Payload deployment confirmed for @open_cosmos. Welcome to orbit! \ud83d\udef0\ufe0f\ud83d\ude80 pic.twitter.com\/xphXedHVRBJanuary 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Today’s launch was Rocket Lab’s first dedicated mission for Open Cosmos, a company that designs, builds and operates satellites<\/a> and also offers data-sharing and data-analysis services.<\/p>\n “Our approach not only dramatically lowers the costs, complexity and timescales of missions, but it also simplifies access to EO [Earth observation] data in a way that removes the barriers for all companies \u2014even non-space customers \u2014 to address society\u2019s most urgent challenges,” Open Cosmos’ website reads<\/a>.<\/p>\n This morning’s mission, which Rocket Lab called “The Cosmos Will See You Now,” sent up the first two satellites in Open Cosmos’ planned telecom constellation in low Earth orbit<\/a>.<\/p>\n “This new constellation complements the already-in-orbit satellites that deliver high-resolution imagery and global monitoring capabilities, supporting a wide range of applications and providing valuable metadata for diverse uses,” Rocket Lab said in an emailed statement after the launch.<\/p>\n Electron on its way to orbit for its 80th launch with mission success for @Open_Cosmos pic.twitter.com\/mOZu5oaVrnJanuary 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “The Cosmos Will See You Now” was Rocket Lab’s 80th overall to date. The vast majority have been conducted by the 59-foot-tall (18-meter-tall) Electron, which gives small satellites dedicated rides to Earth orbit and beyond.<\/p>\n Rocket Lab has also conducted a handful of missions with HASTE, a suborbital version of Electron that allows customers to test hypersonic technologies<\/a> in the space environment.<\/p>\n Rocket Lab launched 21 missions in 2025<\/a>, which set a new record for the company. Its previous high, set in 2024, was 16.<\/p>\n