28 March 2026 – Rocket Lab successfully completed its first dedicated launch for the European Space Agency (ESA), demonstrating Electron’s key and growing role in supporting space agency missions with repeatable and reliable commercial launch services. The launch lifted off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on March 28th to successfully deliver ESA’s “Celeste” mission to orbit: the first two spacecraft of a satellite navigation demonstration mission in low Earth orbit at 510 km. ESA’s Celeste mission will demonstrate how a low Earth orbit fleet of satellites can work in combination with the Galileo constellation in medium Earth orbit that provide Europe’s own global navigation system. Built by two consortia led by GMV (Spain) and Thales Alenia Space (France), the pair of ESA spacecraft will test next-generation technologies for a broad variety of future uses in autonomous vehicles, maritime navigation, wireless networks, emergency services, and critical infrastructure projects across Europe. Read more