New Zealand’s Rocket Lab Shoots 13 Tiny Cube Satellites Into Orbit

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SYDNEY—Rocket Lab, a rocket propulsion company backed by investors in Silicon Valley, has launched a batch of 13 tiny probes from New Zealand to study space.

The Electron rocket lifted off on the evening of Dec. 16, from the world’s only private orbital launch pad on the Mahia Peninsula, carrying a payload of 10-cm (3.9-inch) cube-shaped research satellites.