It's Business Time Image: Rocket Lab
New Zealand-based Rocket Lab will on Saturday make another bid to send its first fully commercial payload into orbit.
Since testing began, the company has put four satellites into orbit, and from June 23 has a fortnight to get its first fully-fledged business mission -- aptly named "It's Business Time" -- off the ground.
Rocket Lab will open the launch window from June 23 through July 6, with launch attempts scheduled for daily four-hour slots, beginning at 12:30pm NZST.
The company will open a live-stream 15 minutes before launch, viewable on a launch day here[1] and via Rocket Lab's YouTube channel.
Kiwi chief executive and founder Peter Beck on Friday told AAP all systems are go and the weather was looking good for an attempt this weekend.
"This marks the beginning of commercial operations to get small satellites to orbit," he said. "It's been promised and required for a decade now. It really does finally drop the hammer on proper, reliable, and frequent access to orbit for small spacecraft."
US-owned Rocket Lab runs the world's only privately-owned launch facility and focuses on small payloads, like satellites. Although substantially smaller than what Elon Musk's SpaceX is doing, Rocket Lab's 17-metre-long Electron rockets use 3D-printed engines and can carry payloads up to about 150 kilograms.
Electron 'It's a Test' lift off Image: Rocket Lab
The company, which bases its operations in Mahia on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, hopes to be completing a launch every two weeks next year and weekly in 2020.
Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle will loft four satellites and a technology demonstrator to Low Earth Orbit. The payloads will be launched to a 500km x 250km