Launch

Rocket Lab 81st Electron Launch — NEONSAT-1A for KAIST, Second Launch in Eight Days

Name: Rocket Lab 81st Electron Launch — NEONSAT-1A for KAIST, Second Launch in Eight Days
Start: 2026-01-30T01:21:00.000Z
Location: Space / Orbital
Rating: 68

Type

LAUNCH

Status

SUCCESS

Date

January 30, 2026

FOMO

Summary

Rocket Lab completed its 81st Electron launch on January 30, 2026, deploying South Korea's NEONSAT-1A Earth observation satellite to a 540km SSO for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). The "Bridging The Swarm" mission was Rocket Lab's second launch in eight days and set a 100% mission success record for 2026. NEONSAT-1A carries a high-resolution optical camera for near-real-time disaster monitoring of the Korean Peninsula. It is the second satellite in a planned 11-satellite government constellation (NEONSAT-1 launched April 2024). CEO Peter Beck: "Two launches in eight days is a strong start to the year."

Organization

Rocket Lab

Launch

Mission Data

Vehicle Electron

Payload NEONSAT-1A (KAIST)

Orbit SSO 540 km

Topics

launch earth-observation south-korea electron

Related Coverage

1 signals

10:28 PM

66 FOMO

Rocket Lab 81 launches in and counting — two in eight days at the start of 2026

Orig: Mission Success: Rocket Lab Launches Korean Earth-Imaging Satellite, Completes 2nd Launch in 8 Days

Rocket Lab's official press release on NEONSAT-1A deployment. 81st Electron mission, second launch of 2026, second launch in eight days. NEONSAT-1A to 540km SSO for KAIST disaster monitoring constellation. CEO Peter Beck: "We cemented our position as the leader in reliable and responsive launch with our record-breaking year in 2025." Upcoming 2026 launches: commercial EO, international agencies, national security, hypersonic technology development.

#launch#earth-observation#electron

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Rocket Lab completed its 81st Electron launch on January 30, 2026, deploying South Korea's NEONSAT-1

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