The first launch of the Electron launch vehicle almost made it to orbit. Launched from new Zealand, Rocket Lab’s two stage vehicle is designed to be cheap and expendable, with a projected launch price of about $5M and a payload of just a few hundred pounds. The dollars/pound cost of the vehicle is pretty bad compared to the likes of the Falcon 9,  but that’s to be expected. Economics does not scale down well with launch vehicles. But if you have a burning need to put a small payload into space in a hurry, a launch vehicle like this should be attractive.

New Zealand space launch is first from a private site