Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket on the "Look Ma, No Hands" mission to orbit four cubesats into orbit from Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand on Aug. 19, 2019. The company is developing a reusable rocket system, building a U.S.-based launch pad in Virginia and developing Photon, a unique, end-to-end satellite service.

Rocket Lab is a private spaceflight company that provides launches for small satellites to Earth orbit. Founded in Auckland in 2006 by New Zealander Peter Beck, the company established a second headquarters in Huntington Beach, California in 2013.

Small satellites, such as CubeSats , weigh less than 1,100 lbs. (500 kilograms) and take advantage of the miniaturization of electronics in recent years to pack a great deal of power into a tiny frame. They have become an important component of space infrastructure, providing low-cost hardware that can be built and launched by universities and companies to conduct scientific research and Earth observations.

Related: CubeSats: Tiny, Versatile Spacecraft Explained (Infographic)

But such satellites must generally piggyback on rocket launches dedicated to their larger kin, which are more likely to be delayed due to weather or technical problems. Enter Rocket Lab, whose aim is to "support the small satellite industry by providing frequent, dedicated launch opportunities to customers' preferred orbits," according to the company .

Rocket Lab does this using its Electron rocket launch vehicle, a two-stage rocket that stands 57 feet tall (15 meters) and which can haul payloads of up to 500 lbs. (227 kilograms) to orbit for each mission. The company charges $5 million per flight, but this cost is spread over the dozens of small satellites it can pack into each vehicle.

Rocket Lab launches

Electron currently launches from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. The company has bestowed on each flight a whimsical nickname — for instance, the first launch in May 2017 (which partially failed) was called "It's A Test." Their second, successful launch was called "Still Testing," while the third was named "It's Business Time."

Their eighth launch, which occurred in August 2019, was called " Look Ma, No Hands ." The company has launched small satellites for NASA, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

One of the company's most famous pieces of cargo was the disco-ball-shaped Humanity Star , which blasted off Jan. 21, 2018, on Rocket Lab's second launch. The extremely reflective object was meant to be highly visible in the night sky and provide a way of "looking beyond our immediate situation, whatever that may be, and understanding we are all in this together as one species, responsible collectively for innovating and solving the challenges facing us all," according to Beck. Unfortunately, Humanity Star fell back into Earth's atmosphere just two months later.

Rocket Lab's future

Rocket Lab is building a new launchpad , called Launch Complex-2 (LC-2 for short), at Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The company will reportedly invest $20 million to build the new launch site and will receive a $5 million state grant from Virginia's transportation department.

Related: What's Next for Rocket Lab? A Q&A With CEO Peter Beck

The company is also in the process of developing reusable boosters . Unlike similar technology used by private space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin , whose boosters autonomously land on their own, Rocket Lab's are intended to be snagged out of the air with a helicopter as they return to Earth.

The company hopes to launch every two weeks in 2020, according to a news release , with the eventual goal of providing weekly launches.

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