Rocket Lab Launch Successful

New Zealand has entered the space race on a shoestring budget. The NZ-USA company has successfully launched its first Electron rocket which is rated to carry a 150 kg payload when it enters service.

http://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-reaches-space-but-not-orbit-on-first-electron-launch/

One thing the rocket failed to do was enter orbit. I put this down to the following problem - reaching an orbit speed. What is required to enter orbit is described here:

https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/

The article says reaching orbital speed takes much more fuel than reaching orbital height. By this reckoning I'm guessing they ran out of fuel before reaching orbital speed. But it's a great start, the engine and critical pump are made in Auckland and the launch pad is located on the Mahia Peninsula south of Gisborne. The location was likely chosen because the site is surrounded by sea on almost all sides and there is very little commercial flight traffic.