It looks like SpaceX and Blue Origin have some come competition when it comes to the independent space flight field. Startup Rocket Lab has just entered the fray after the successful launch of its Electron rocket over the weekend.

A crucial flight test for the company, the rocket reached orbit for the first time, after doing so from its New Zealand-based facility at 14:45 (local time) on 21 January. Taking an estimated eight and a half minutes to complete the feat, Rocket Lab also deployed three commercial satellites in the process.

"Reaching orbit on a second test flight is significant on its own, but successfully deploying customer payloads so early in a new rocket program is almost unprecedented," noted Rocket Lab’s CEO, Peter Beck. "Rocket Lab was founded on the principal of opening access to space to better understand our planet and improve life on it. Today we took a significant step towards that."

It's unclear what the next few months will hold for Rocket Lab, but at $4.9 million per launch, the company already says that it has a full list of customers requiring their services.