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New Zealand launched its first rocket into space.. / December 1, 2009 /

New Zealand launched its first rocket into space. The launch was carried out by a private company Rocket Lab, which develops tools to launch satellites into orbit. Details and launch preparation of the launch are available at the company.

According to the engineers, the rocket climbed to an altitude of about 100 kilometers, speeding up to 5 thousand kilometers per hour. In the air, an upper stage apparatus had about 20 minutes, then sank into the Pacific Ocean by parachute.

Company representatives said that the flight of the missile, which received the name of Manu Karere ( «Bird-Gazette), became the first private rocket launch in the southern hemisphere. It is emphasized that all the development took place without the participation of the state.

Parameters of the new medium rather modest. The length of the rocket is about 5 meters, and weighs about 65 kilograms. It is able to deduce the space cargo weighing up to two kilograms. The company is currently developing a second modification of the carrier (two series of missiles were named Atea-1 and Atea-2, respectively), which will be able to remove in the near-Earth space cargo weighing up to 70 kilograms.

First private company that was able to bring their own satellite into orbit, was an American SpaceX. Falcon-1 Launch of the company launch the Malaysian spacecraft RazakSAT, designed to make shooting the earth’s surface.

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