logo
Rocket Lab Completes Record Launch Turnaround From Launch Complex 1, Successfully Deploys 68th Electron Mission

Rocket Lab Completes Record Launch Turnaround From Launch Complex 1, Successfully Deploys 68th Electron Mission

Associated Press4 hours ago

MAHIA, New Zealand--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 28, 2025--
Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB) ('Rocket Lab' or 'the Company'), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today successfully launched its 68th Electron rocket to deploy a single satellite to space for a confidential commercial customer.
The mission was the second of two launches from the same launch site in less than 48 hours, a new launch record for the Company as it continues to deliver dedicated, repeatable and reliable access to space for satellite operators.
The 'Symphony In The Stars' mission lifted-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on June 28 th (7:08 p.m./07:08 UTC) to deploy a single spacecraft to a 650km circular Earth orbit. The mission was the first of two dedicated launches for the new customer on Electron booked less than four months ago, with a second mission scheduled before the end of 2025.
Rocket Lab has now completed four launches in June for commercial satellite constellation operators, underscoring Electron's consistent performance and rapid deployment capabilities as the world's leading small launcher: the 'Full Stream Ahead' mission on June 3 rd; 'The Mountain God Guards' mission on June 11 th; 'Get The Hawk Outta Here' launched on June 26 th UTC, and today's 'Symphony In The Stars' mission.
Rocket Lab Founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, says: 'Electron has demonstrated once again that it is the gold standard for responsive and reliable space access for small satellites. The future of space is built on proven performance, and Electron continues to deliver against a stacked launch manifest this year. Congratulations to the team on achieving its fastest launch turnaround yet between two missions from Launch Complex 1. This launch was also a quick-turn mission to meet our customer's mission requirements, and we're looking forward to doing it again later this year.'
'Symphony In The Stars' was Rocket Lab's tenth Electron mission of 2025 and its 68th launch overall. With 100% mission success so far this year, Electron continues to deliver reliable deployment amid an increasing launch cadence and rapid contract-to-launch timelines.
Launch images:https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketlab/albums/72177720327170026
Launch webcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewgd5BPw4tc
View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250628346094/en/
CONTACT: Rocket Lab Media Contact
Murielle Baker
[email protected]
KEYWORD: AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA NEW ZEALAND
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING SATELLITE
SOURCE: Rocket Lab Corporation
Copyright Business Wire 2025.
PUB: 06/28/2025 04:45 AM/DISC: 06/28/2025 04:45 AM
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250628346094/en

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

DirecTV cuts back a major service as consumers switch gears
DirecTV cuts back a major service as consumers switch gears

Miami Herald

time2 hours ago

  • Miami Herald

DirecTV cuts back a major service as consumers switch gears

It is no secret that consumers across the country have been ditching traditional cable TV for streaming services such as Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and Paramount+ over the past few years. These services offer access to a wide variety of TV shows and films at significantly lower prices than cable. According to a recent survey from digital security firm All About Cookies, only 46% of Americans still use traditional cable or satellite TV services, and only 14% of cord-cutters regret cutting their cable. Also, 76% of Americans watch shows through paid streaming services. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Amid this growing trend, a recent report from MoffettNathanson found that traditional pay-TV providers saw a 12.6% decrease in subscribers during the second quarter of 2024. Cable providers lost 1.03 million subscribers, while satellite services, such as DirecTV and Dish, lost 495,000. Related: Comcast raises red flag about unexpected customer behavior In response to this major shift, DirecTV has recently ramped up its efforts to win back customers. Last year, the cable giant leaned further into the streaming business by offering them access to over 90 channels, such as MovieSphere, Fox Weather, Court TV, etc., for free through its MyFree DirecTV app. In January, it also launched its MySports streaming package, which offers access to over 40 sports and broadcast channels for $70 a month. The following month, DirecTV even introduced three new streaming bundles called Genre Packs. These bundles include MyEntertainment, MiEspañol, and MyNews, which all offer customers channels for under $50 a month, a cheaper option than DirecTV's traditional cable bundles. Image source: Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images While DirecTV is increasing its investment in streaming, it appears to be slowly phasing out its satellite TV service. According to a new message on DirecTV's website, the cable giant warns new customers looking to sign up for satellite TV that the service is no longer available in all areas. It encourages them to sign up for its paid streaming services instead. "DIRECTV Satellite is not currently available in all areas," said DirecTV on its website. "Check your service address by entering the ZIP Code of the address where you want DIRECTV service. Want the same package without the Satellite? Switch to DIRECTV Streaming App now by selecting that option below." Related: Spectrum struggles to reverse alarming customer behavior In a statement to TheStreet, a DirecTV spokesperson said this change is a "limited-time trial." "In select markets, this limited-time trial will increase awareness and adoption of our satellite-free streaming service, which has quickly become the preferred solution for new customers," said the spokesperson in the statement. According to a recent report from Cordcutter News, the areas that appear to be impacted by this change include large cities with solid high-speed internet access, which are great areas for DirecTV to push its streaming services. New customers in rural areas that have limited internet availability may, however, still have access to DirecTV satellite services. The move from DirecTV comes at a time when some Americans are starting to change their tune about paid streaming services, as a few recently raised their prices amid increased demand. According to a survey from digital security firm All About Cookies, 84% of respondents have canceled a streaming subscription in the past, and 44% said price hikes pushed them to make this decision. More media and entertainment: Disney makes major theme park announcement after startling lossComcast raises red flag about unexpected customer behaviorDisney CEO offers unexpected response to tariff concerns Amid this budding trend, free streaming platforms are becoming more popular among consumers. For example, Paramount, which owns PlutoTV, revealed during an earnings call in May that PlutoTV "delivered its highest consumption ever" during the first quarter of 2025. That same month, Fox also revealed during an earnings call that its free ad-supported streaming platform Tubi faced "accelerating growth" during the same quarter. Related: Paramount makes a harsh decision amid declining sales The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.

Rocket Lab Completes Record Launch Turnaround From Launch Complex 1, Successfully Deploys 68th Electron Mission
Rocket Lab Completes Record Launch Turnaround From Launch Complex 1, Successfully Deploys 68th Electron Mission

Associated Press

time4 hours ago

  • Associated Press

Rocket Lab Completes Record Launch Turnaround From Launch Complex 1, Successfully Deploys 68th Electron Mission

MAHIA, New Zealand--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 28, 2025-- Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB) ('Rocket Lab' or 'the Company'), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today successfully launched its 68th Electron rocket to deploy a single satellite to space for a confidential commercial customer. The mission was the second of two launches from the same launch site in less than 48 hours, a new launch record for the Company as it continues to deliver dedicated, repeatable and reliable access to space for satellite operators. The 'Symphony In The Stars' mission lifted-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on June 28 th (7:08 p.m./07:08 UTC) to deploy a single spacecraft to a 650km circular Earth orbit. The mission was the first of two dedicated launches for the new customer on Electron booked less than four months ago, with a second mission scheduled before the end of 2025. Rocket Lab has now completed four launches in June for commercial satellite constellation operators, underscoring Electron's consistent performance and rapid deployment capabilities as the world's leading small launcher: the 'Full Stream Ahead' mission on June 3 rd; 'The Mountain God Guards' mission on June 11 th; 'Get The Hawk Outta Here' launched on June 26 th UTC, and today's 'Symphony In The Stars' mission. Rocket Lab Founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, says: 'Electron has demonstrated once again that it is the gold standard for responsive and reliable space access for small satellites. The future of space is built on proven performance, and Electron continues to deliver against a stacked launch manifest this year. Congratulations to the team on achieving its fastest launch turnaround yet between two missions from Launch Complex 1. This launch was also a quick-turn mission to meet our customer's mission requirements, and we're looking forward to doing it again later this year.' 'Symphony In The Stars' was Rocket Lab's tenth Electron mission of 2025 and its 68th launch overall. With 100% mission success so far this year, Electron continues to deliver reliable deployment amid an increasing launch cadence and rapid contract-to-launch timelines. Launch images: Launch webcast: View source version on CONTACT: Rocket Lab Media Contact Murielle Baker [email protected] KEYWORD: AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING SATELLITE SOURCE: Rocket Lab Corporation Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 06/28/2025 04:45 AM/DISC: 06/28/2025 04:45 AM

T-Mobile Is the New Mobile Network Champ. I Got a Behind-the-Scenes View Into How It Got There
T-Mobile Is the New Mobile Network Champ. I Got a Behind-the-Scenes View Into How It Got There

CNET

time7 hours ago

  • CNET

T-Mobile Is the New Mobile Network Champ. I Got a Behind-the-Scenes View Into How It Got There

Last week T-Mobile announced that it's been named the Best Mobile Network in the US by Ookla, marking the first time the carrier has taken the overall top spot. That's based on half a billion real-world usage tests conducted over a six-month period. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) During a live event at its Tech Experience Hub in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile also announced a July 23 commercial launch date for T-Satellite, its Starlink-based satellite connectivity service, as well as additional features, such as support for sending images and audio files. And to boost the array of perks that accompany many T-Mobile plans, it's adding free DoorDash DashPass memberships for subscribers with Magenta status. "We made big bets on 5G, pushing the limits to deliver speed and coverage no one thought possible," said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. "Now, as the Best Mobile Network in America, with unmatched satellite-to-mobile capability, it's clear we're shaping the future of wireless with a network built not just for speed, but for possibility." Watch this: T-Mobile Announces T-Satellite: Rapid Fire Q&A with T-Mobile Exec 01:42 In less than a decade, T-Mobile has gone from a limited-spectrum upstart with a penchant for bright pink branding to the top of the competitive US mobile industry, largely due to the way it's navigated the transition to 5G networking (and maybe some help from the magenta colors). Merging T-Mobile's low-band spectrum with Sprint's midband became one of the main reasons T-Mobile is now crowing about its spot in Ookla's rankings. As part of these announcements, T-Mobile invited CNET to an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation about how it arrived at this point, and a tour of some of the technologies at work at its headquarters and labs. Entry gates at T-Mobile's headquarters. Jeff Carlson/CNET An unconventional road to 5G Every company says it's the best at something, and for a long time, T-Mobile claimed it was the best value among the major wireless carriers. "US consumers have always had to make a choice between going to a much higher priced but higher quality network, or make a trade-off in network and get a better value," said Mike Katz, T-Mobile president of marketing, strategy and products. "Now it's validated by a third party [that] customers don't have to make this choice. They can get both the best value, which T Mobile has always been known and famous for, and get the best network." But how did T-Mobile get to this point? It's easy to say you have the best value and that customers love you, but those are results. At this scale -- being one of the top three providers in the US competing for an essential market -- it takes a series of technical decisions, a vision of how technology will evolve and the willingness to take big risks. At T-Mobile headquarters, even the flowers are magenta colored. Jeff Carlson/CNET From a consumer point of view, a few years ago, the focus of every carrier seemed to be to expand coverage, especially 5G coverage. Specifics got lost in the 5G marketing shuffle -- every phone-maker touted its 5G compatibility, and the carriers wanted everyone to know that they were expanding their 5G footprint as fast as possible. But wireless coverage isn't like a blanket that covers everything equally, and 5G in particular is made up of several speeds and flavors. That's why your 5G-enabled phone will sometimes indicate the network as "5G," "5G+," "5G UC" or other variations, depending on your carrier. When 5G technologies began to appear in 2020, one focus was on the high speeds possible using the millimeter wave spectrum. But, although millimeter wave can deliver swift connections, it can be thwarted by obstacles such as windows or even plants. "Primarily, [5G] was going to be a millimeter wave play, which is very high bandwidth with very poor reach," said Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile's president of technology. "We went all-in on a very different strategy. We said, 'it's going to be a midband play, and it's going to be TDD [Time Division Duplex, a way to send and receive data in the same frequency] spectrum in the midband that you pair with a very strong low band.' We were able to get our hands on the best possible spectrum, thanks to merging with Sprint." Ewaldsson emphasized that it's not just a prevalence of low-band that's advantageous. It's that, at 600 megahertz, T-Mobile has the lowest band in the low-band area. Why is that important? It has better reach, about 25% to 30% wider than the competition. T-Mobile's visualization of its 5G standalone core technology. Jeff Carlson/CNET That Sprint merger in 2020 sounded like a quick way to buy into the top of the market, a shortcut to expand one's footprint. (Indeed, T-Mobile is taking a similar tack right now in the broadband market by acquiring fiber provider Lumos in April). But buying Sprint wasn't an immediate ticket to the top. "It took about a year extra to get through all the regulatory approvals to get this thing done," Ewaldsson said, noting that AT&T's and Verizon's lead in the market made it a challenge for T-Mobile or Sprint alone to actually enter the 5G race. But with a plan in place to use Sprint's spectrum and infrastructure, "once we came out [of the approval process], we were right out of the blocks," he said. Katz explained that many of T-Mobile's early disadvantages have turned into benefits. "We have more towers than anybody else, and our towers are closer together," he said. "We had to build more towers than AT&T and Verizon. We didn't have any low-band spectrum, which propagates better. So we had to build more towers that were closer together." Ewaldsson was more specific. "We have about [and here he paused briefly] 82,715 towers," he said. "Now, as a turn of events, that happened to be the best possible asset when we merged with Sprint, because we could power up all those towers with that TDD spectrum … and create a formidable downlink speed experience." The benefits of the standalone core Merging T-Mobile's low-band spectrum with Sprint's midband became one of the main reasons T-Mobile is now crowing about its spot in Ookla's rankings. "We have [a] secret that nobody else has, which is a standalone core. A standalone core is a smarter control over all those towers that stand alone," Ewaldsson said. "Core allows us to combine low-band and midband and all our bands to get higher and faster experiences for our customers." He explained that building out the network more consistently is something other carriers haven't done. Every T-Mobile tower has nearly the same tri-band configuration. "You have the same speeds, latency and performance on your apps, wherever you are, and that's also a secret sauce, too," he said. The standalone core enables T-Mobile's next wave of wireless advancements. In April, the company announced that it had rolled out and successfully tested -- with consumer handsets -- 5G-Advanced networking, achieving uplink speeds of 550 Mbps. It did so by combining multiple spectrums in a technique called carrier aggregation, which is enabled by the standalone core hardware. The T-Mobile Launchpad facility is home to many of the labs the company uses to investigate new wireless technologies. Jeff Carlson/CNET This technology also enables network slicing, a technique T-Mobile has been using commercially for the last two years to guarantee network performance for a specific range of devices, even in crowded or noisy wireless environments. First responders, for example, can be assured they can communicate, even in an emergency environment where other people are all accessing the network. "You can have a number of different frequencies supporting one single device, one mobile phone," said Ewaldsson. "If you combine all those resources [into] one device, you can get an incredible bandwidth for a short time, and you can get done with what needs to be done faster. So it creates a better customer experience, because you have an enormous bandwidth that is allocated toward one device, instead of sharing it in one frequency with a bunch of devices." T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert announces Ookla's ranking as T-Mobile being the Best Mobile Network in the US at a live event in Bellevue, Washington. Jeff Carlson/CNET How Ookla named T-Mobile the Best Mobile Network in the US "We've known for a long time that the 5G portion of our network is the best," said Katz, "but this [test] concluded that T-Mobile had the best network. And obviously, we're very excited about that." Both Katz and Ewaldsson emphasized that Ookla's testing was larger and more comprehensive than earlier metrics. It was performed on over 6 million devices and 500 million test points over a six-month period. Ewaldsson said it's an active test, collecting data when customers run the SpeedTest app on their phones, "but it's also a passive test where, in the background, they're pulling data from millions of different handsets that are in the hands of real consumers, wherever they are." He contrasted that with drive testing, an accepted methodology in which a tester drives routes with a collection of representative phones to prove that a network is good. "We don't believe in that," said Ewaldsson. "We believe that if you really want to test this, you're going to crowdsource it, and that's exactly what this test has done… and it's a third-party test." Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile president of technology, holds an award from Ookla for Best Mobile Network in the US. Beside him is Srini Gopalan, T-Mobile chief operating officer. Jeff Carlson/CNET The benefit to this approach is that it more closely captures real mobile usage, according to Ewaldsson, such as people texting and sending email, viewing social apps, watching video clips, playing games and more. Millions of people are also operating under real-world conditions, which can include factors such as pockets of interference or scarcity. Verizon disputes Ookla's methodology, saying that drive testing is a more accurate way to measure network performance. Getting to this point hasn't been a glide path for T-Mobile, and it still faces turbulence. Just in the past few months, T-Mobile has raised prices on many of its legacy plans (and then turned around and gave out free lines to some). It has also switched all of its current plans to a model that does not include taxes and fees, some of which incrementally increased this spring. Until this year, the main unlimited data plans incorporated taxes and fees into the monthly cost. T-Satellite goes online in July with more features T-Mobile's wireless performance is not the only thing looking skyward. The T-Satellite service, which enables texting from most smartphones via the network of over 620 Starlink satellites when out of range of cellular or Wi-Fi networks, will leave beta status on July 23 and be open to anyone. Pricing for the service will be $10 a month, except for customers on the Experience Beyond and Go5G Next plan, which includes T-Satellite as part of the package. A T-Mobile Space X display at T-Mobile's headquarters. Jeff Carlson/CNET That price will apply even if you're a customer of a competing service like AT&T or Verizon; T-Satellite can be activated as a second eSIM on supported devices. Katz said there are currently over 1.8 million customers in the beta program, including tens of thousands of competitors' customers. He also pointed out that during the beta, three times more messages were received than sent. "If you can't receive an incoming message because you haven't manually connected your phone, you're not really reachable and, in my opinion, you're not really connected," he said, referring to the way competitors' phones initiate a satellite link. The T-Satellite service will include 911 emergency texting later this year, which will be available to any mobile subscriber, even if they haven't signed up for T-Satellite service (provided their devices can make the connection). "We just think that with a technology like this, no customer should ever be in a situation where they are unconnected in an emergency," said Katz. That's not the last of the satellite news, though. T-Satellite will enable MMS messaging to send pictures and short audio clips via satellite on Android phones, with iOS support coming later. In a demonstration I witnessed at T-Mobile's 5G Hub, sending an image, text and requisite burst of emojis wasn't exactly speedy, but they arrived within 30 to 90 seconds. Building on that, T-Mobile will bring data service to T-Satellite starting Oct. 1. Considering how satellite bandwidth is constrained, T-Mobile is working with operating system providers to implement an API that developers can use to allow reasonable data access in their apps over the satellite connection. Don't expect to stream Netflix while you're camping in the wilderness, but apps such as All Trails will be able to fetch updated information. "This will be the first time you've seen a direct-to-cell satellite network support data services," said Katz. "We've worked with many different app developers to help them build their apps to recognize that they're connected to satellite and optimize for satellite data." DoorDash deliveries without all the fees When it comes to mobile plan perks, T-Mobile has found success with its Magenta Status goodies, which range from everyday discounts on stays at Hilton hotels to T-Mobile Tuesdays, which offer deals such as a recent Wingstop promotion (during which many of the restaurant's locations ran out of chicken nationwide). Katz said the company has seen 1.2 billion redemptions of T-Mobile Tuesdays offers. On July 8, Magenta Status is gaining a new perk: T-Mobile is partnering with DoorDash to give customers on the most popular plans DashPass service free for a year. Eligible customers can claim the offer through Aug. 4 via T-Mobile Tuesdays in the T-Life app. "I think DoorDash did something like 2 billion deliveries last year, and the average price of a delivery is $3 to $4," said Katz. "If you have DashPass, you don't pay delivery fees at all. This can save our customers hundreds and hundreds of dollars." Incentives to switch and T-Mobile's future Eager to entice customers of the major competing services, T-Mobile is launching the Easy Upgrade program that makes it "screamingly simple," in Katz's words, to switch to T-Mobile. He specifically mentioned Verizon customers "who signed up with Verizon because they believed, and for years it was true, that Verizon had the best network," he said. "And now that we're in a place where it's definitively clear that T-Mobile has the best network, we want to make it really easy for Verizon customers to come and join the Un-carrier." Katz said T-Mobile will pay off every cost to switch, including the remaining cost of devices up to $800, and give customers a new Apple or Android device without requiring a trade-in (be sure to read the details of these deals). T-Mobile's ascent to the top of Ookla's list shows that, even though the mobile market in the US is dominated by just a few large players, the field is in flux. AT&T and Verizon continue to build out their own networks and strategies -- Verizon has teased a "Project 624" that is rumored to be revealed on June 24, for instance. Now that T-Mobile has established this lead, I'm eager to see how it plans to hold onto it.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store