Rocket Lab launch postponed due to weather

ATLANTIC, Va. – Rocket Lab USA is targeting a launch date of no earlier than Dec. 13 for its first Electron rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

The rocket launch was slated to take place at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, but is being pushed back to a later date due to the weather.

The mission, named “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” will deploy radio frequency monitoring satellites for HawkEye 360. The 59-foot-tall Electron rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island.

With this mission, NASA is helping foster a growing low-Earth space economy and continues Wallops’ 35-year history of support to the commercial launch industry.

The launch may be visible, weather-permitting, to residents throughout much of the East Coast of the United States.

Viewing locations on Chincoteague Island include Robert Reed Park on Main Street or Beach Road spanning the area between Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. The Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Atlantic beaches also provide good viewing locations. The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops will be open for this launch.

A live launch webcast will be available at www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream beginning about 40 minutes before launch.  WESR will broadcast the audio of the launch beginning at approximately 5:40 pm.