Rocket Lab completes 98th Electron launch with three HawkEye 360 satellites
Rocket Lab's 'We're Not Hawking Around' mission lifted three HawkEye 360 satellites into a 520km orbit from New Zealand — its 98th Electron flight and 19th launch of 2026.
Rocket Lab has completed its 98th Electron launch, delivering three HawkEye 360 satellites into a 520km low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.
The “We’re Not Hawking Around” mission lifted off at 8:11pm NZDT on Friday 23 October — 7:11am UTC. The three HAWK satellites will fly in tri-satellite formation, collecting radio-frequency spectrum data for maritime tracking, GNSS jamming detection, radar monitoring, communications mapping and space defence.
It is the third dedicated Electron mission for HawkEye 360, a signals-intelligence data and analytics company, and Rocket Lab’s 19th launch of 2026. The company says Electron is now the most prolific launcher in the world dedicated to small satellites, and the flight moves it closer to the milestone of 100 launches.
Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) describes itself as an end-to-end space company, and says its satellites and components have powered more than 1,700 missions in Earth orbit, alongside deep-space exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Sources: Rocket Lab press release via GlobeNewswire (Morningstar) · Foreign Policy Journal · Investing News
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