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Though the launch was only a test, Rocket Lab managed to launch three satellites into orbit for tracking shipping, weather and imaging.

Orbital class rocket, not bad. Also, made it to orbit on the second attempt, beat Spacex by two launches :P The Rutherford engine sea level Isp of 303 on RP1/LOX is damn impressive.

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Isp is awesome, TWR... not so much. The electric turbopumps are a big propellant efficiency win, but aren't without other costs.

I was surprised to hear they were using LION packs, dropped mid second-stage. I'm not sure why but I expected super-capacitors or maybe flywheels arranged gyroscopically within the stages. Batteries are heavy - but must be the best fit for now.

I'd mostly worry about mass ratio, though they do drop off some of the batteries half way on the second stage.

Batteries are heavy, but the system can make up for it. More precise control of propellant volume means the combustion chamber and nozzle don't have to be engineered for such high peak stresses due to a turbopump surging.

> beat Spacex by two launches

Cute, yes, but they were also not sued by their competitors and forced at the last minute to relocate to a salty small island that caused epic issues for those launches, as SpaceX was by ULA.

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