Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle on the launch pad in New Zealand ahead of the Nov. 21 launch for a confidential customer. Photo: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab has set a new record for Electron launches in a year, reaching 18 launches after back-to-back launches from New Zealand and Virginia. 

The first was a HASTE suborbital hypersonic technology test flight from Wallops Island, Virginia, on Tuesday morning for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The launch included a federal payload developed by the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and multiple secondary payloads by federal and industry partners to test technologies for missile defense applications. This was Rocket Lab’s third HASTE launch this year. 

Rocket Lab then followed it up with a mission from New Zealand for a confidential customer. That launch took off at 1:45 a.m. local time on Nov. 21. 

This year’s total of 18 successful Electron launches beats last year’s record of 16. Rocket Lab still expects more launches before the end of this year. 

Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck called the milestone a proud moment. 

“These two launches serve as great examples of the team’s skill at delivering mission success for our customers anywhere, anytime, and no matter the mission profile – from a suborbital hypersonic technology demonstration to a commercial orbital mission, all within 48 hours and from opposite sides of the world,” Beck said in a statement.