Name: Curveball — Electron
Start: 2026-06-11T08:00:00Z
End: 2026-06-11T09:15:00Z
Location: Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C)

Question 1

What rocket is launching Curveball?

Accepted Answer

Curveball is launching on the Electron.

Question 2

Who is launching Curveball?

Accepted Answer

Curveball is being launched by Rocket Lab, a commercial launch provider founded in 2006.

Question 3

Where is Curveball launching from?

Accepted Answer

Curveball is launching from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) at Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA.

Question 4

What orbit is Curveball heading to?

Accepted Answer

Curveball is heading to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Question 5

Is the Electron reusable?

Accepted Answer

No — the Electron is an expendable launch vehicle.

Question 6

How many times has the Electron flown?

Accepted Answer

The Electron has launched 91 times to date, with 87 successful flights.

Question 7

What is the Curveball mission?

Accepted Answer

Sub-orbital launch under Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program, details TBD.

Note: Despite reported as a strictly sub-orbital launch program, this launch was cataloged by the USSF to have left 2 rocket stages in a 200 km, 40° very low Earth orbit by the US Space Force. The payload was not cataloged and may have been deliberately de-orbited.

Question 8

Where is NASA's Wallops Flight Facility?

Accepted Answer

Wallops Flight Facility is NASA's own launch range on Virginia's Eastern Shore, operating since 1945 and managed through Goddard Space Flight Center. It also hosts the commercial Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS).

Question 9

What launches from Wallops?

Accepted Answer

Wallops flies NASA's long-running sounding-rocket programme alongside orbital launches: Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo missions to the ISS on the Antares rocket from Pad 0A, Minotaur vehicles from Pad 0B, and Rocket Lab's Electron from Launch Complex 2.

Question 10

Can you watch a launch from Wallops?

Accepted Answer

The NASA Wallops Visitor Center is the designated public viewing area and posts information for each flight. Nearby Chincoteague and the Assateague seashore also give open-horizon views across the water.

Question 11

What was the first orbital launch from Wallops?

Accepted Answer

The first orbital launch from Wallops was TacSat-2, on an Orbital Sciences Minotaur in December 2006. Wallops later launched LADEE, the first deep-space mission to fly from Virginia, in 2013.

Curveball

Overview

Mission details

Launch Window

Schedule Updates

Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C)

Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

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