On May 25, 2017 at 04:20 UTC, the “Electron” rocket-carrier was launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, the commercial spaceport located on the Mahia Peninsula on the eastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. The launch was successful but the payload was not orbited. There were no commercial satellites aboard the rocket, only an inert payload. Rocket Lab released no further details on the mission. Rocket Lab is headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, with a design and engineering office in Auckland, New Zealand.

On May 25, 2017 at 06:33 UTC the “Soyuz-2.1b” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket orbited the “Kosmos-2518” missile warning satellite. Russia uses the missile warning satellites, along with ground-based radars, to track missiles that approach the country’s territory.