After a second-stage failure, Rocket Lab loses seven satellites

Enlarge / The Pics Or It Didn't Happen mission lifts off. (credit: Rocket Lab)

On Sunday morning, local time in New Zealand, Rocket Lab launched its 13th mission. The booster's first stage performed normally, but just as the second stage neared an altitude of 200km, something went wrong and the vehicle was lost.

In the immediate aftermath of the failure, the company did not provide any additional information about the problem that occurred with the second stage.

"We lost the flight late into the mission," said Peter Beck, the company's founder and chief executive, on Twitter. "I am incredibly sorry that we failed to deliver our customers satellites today. Rest assured we will find the issue, correct it and be back on the pad soon."

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