Photo: Supplied / Rocket Lab
Watch: New Zealand company Rocket Lab has launched a small Earth-imaging satellite from Māhia for a Japanese company this evening.
The launch took place around 5pm, but only after going into a brief hold order 12 minutes from launch.
Watch it here:
Rocket Lab held a dress rehearsal for the launch last week - the company's first mission since a rocket failed in September shortly after lift-off.
The mission is Rocket Lab's 10th launch of the year, beating the previous annual launch record of nine.
The mission's name 'The Moon God Awakens' is in honour of a Japanese god.
The satellite will join another one already in orbit. Both belong to Japanese firm iQPS which is aiming to have a 36-satellite constellation capable of monitoring Earth at specific fixed points every 10 minutes.