(update) Look out Elon: here comes NZ engineer Peter Beck's Rocket Lab

[C C]

Rocket Lab to Launch 3 Satellites for US Air Force Early Saturday. How to Watch
https://www.space.com/rocket-lab-launch-...eview.html

EXCERPT: Spaceflight startup Rocket Lab (founder Peter Beck) will launch three small satellites for the United States Air Force early Saturday morning (May 4), and you can watch the action live. An Electron rocket is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site Saturday at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT; 6 p.m. local New Zealand time), kicking off the STP-27RD mission. Watch it live here at Space.com courtesy of Rocket Lab, or directly via the company.

[...] Together, the three satellites weigh more than 397 lbs. (180 kilograms), the heaviest load for the 57-foot-tall (17 meters) Electron to date. Tomorrow morning's launch will be the sixth overall for Electron, and its second flight of 2019. [...] Rocket Lab aims to dramatically increase access to space using Electron, which can loft about 500 lbs. (225 kg) on each $5 million liftoff. (MORE - details)

[C C]

UPDATE: Rocket Lab has called off Saturday morning's (May 4) launch of three experimental satellites for the U.S. Air Force to conduct additional payload checks. The liftoff of Rocket Lab's Electron booster had been scheduled to take place from the company's New Zealand launch site during a four-hour window that opened at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT; 6 p.m. local New Zealand time) on Saturday. The next available launch opportunity is Sunday (May 5), at the same times outlined above, company representatives said. https://www.space.com/rocket-lab-delays-...ssion.html