A day after the successful launch of New Zealand's first space rocket, there is still no sign of the crucial nose cone that will confirm how high it flew. Read more
It was an honour and a privilege to be invited to be a part of such a momentous occasion. We knew it was history in the making - Kiwi history in the making - and were there to experience it. From the moment I boarded the chopper at Mechanics Bay on Sunday with my friend Paul Holmes and Labour MP David Shearer, it was the sentiment most often repeated. Read more
New Zealand's first rocket was successfully launched from Great Mercury Island on Monday, according to Radio New Zealand. Dozens of spectators watched the six-meter-long Atea-1 blast off from Great Mercury Island, just off the Coromandel Peninsula, at about 02:30 p.m. local time on Monday (01:30 GMT), the Radio New Zealand said. A series of technical hitches had delayed the planned early morning take-off, with spare parts having to be taken by helicopter from Whitianga, it said.
The payload from New Zealand's first home-grown space rocket is floating somewhere off the Coromandel coast following this afternoon's successful launch.
New Zealand Rocket Launch Makes History The successful launch of New Zealands first suborbital rocket has created history today by being the first rocket launched into space by a privately owned company in the southern hemisphere.