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Private New Zealand aerospace company Rocket Lab completed its final ground-based test and is now ready to launch New Zealand into the space race with its Atea-1 launch vehicle. The first high altitude launch of Atea-1 is scheduled for the end of November this year. Once Atea-1 has successfully concluded the development phase it will: * Be the first privately built rocket launched from the Southern Hemisphere to enter space * Launch the Southern Hemisphere’s first commercial space programme * Be the first commercial sounding rocket to use hybrid fuel technology * Give the global scientific community the first practical alternative to conventional rockets – at significantly lower cost You may read the entire article EDIT: Or something like it http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/11/17/0021222/New-Zealand-To-Launch-First-Private-Space-Rocket?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+(Slashdot)