This represents Rocket Lab's third (and last) orbital flight of 2018, although it will get a quick start to the new year with another Electron rocket "on the pad" in January 2019.

You can likely expect this kind of mission frequency in the future. Rocket Lab aims to corner the market for small satellite deployments, and that means offering as many launch dates as possible at costs that are typically more affordable than hitching a ride on a larger vessel. If it achieves this, it could encourage greater use of cubesats and make space more accessible to companies and scientists alike.