Rocket Lab Corporation 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, named ?Daughter Of The Stars?, lifted off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on March 28th at 10:14 pm NZT 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. This launch continues Rocket Lab?s record of 100% mission success for national space programs including NASA, JAXA, KASA, and now ESA, underscoring Electron?s importance to space access both domestically and internationally with its consistently precise, reliable, and responsive launches.
?Daughter Of The Stars? was Rocket Lab?s 6th launch of the year and 85th launch overall. Upcoming launches in 2026 include missions for commercial Earth observation, international space agencies, national security, and hypersonic technology development.
