Pat's Posts: Kiwis in Spaaaaaace!!!

November the 30th might seem like an ordinary Monday to most, but for New Zealanders it’ll go down in history as being when Kiwis finally entered the space age, by launching a rocket into space.

The launch vehicle, an Atea-1 took off from its launch pad at Great Mercury Island (which incidentially gained its name from being where Captain cook witnessed the transit of Mercury) off the Coromandel coast  on New Zealand’s North Island just before 3pm NZT, after initial technical issues delayed planned morning launch back.

At approximately six-metres in length, the Atea-1 is made from cutting edge composite materials and was able to reach an altitude of 120km (space officially starts at 100km above earth) after flying at 5 times the speed of sound. The Atea-1′s rocket is powered using Kiwi developed hybrid fuel technology that has low Co2 emissions and offers more flexibility compared to traditional solid fuel designs. The Atea-1′s engines are able to produce up to 1,500 lbs of thrust.

The launch is the first for Rocket Lab Ltd, who were formed three years ago and marks a successful start for the first privately owned space agency in the Southern Hemisphere to launch a rocket into space.

The successful launch paves the way for Rocket Labs to provide a low cost means of getting 2Kgs of payload into space, opening up significant scientific research opportunities that would have otherwise been impossible with traditional space agencies. Rocket Labs has also designed a successor to the Atea-1, the Atea-2, which is understood to be theoretically able to reach altitudes of up to 250km carrying payloads of up to 25kgs