West Virginiaâs first spacecraft, Simulation to Flight-1 (or STF-1), launched into orbit on Dec. 16, 2018, on the first-ever NASA Venture Class Launch Services mission via the Rocket Lab Electron rocket. The launch occurred from New Zealandâs Mahia Peninsula and STF-1 was one of 10 smallsats deployed as part of NASAâs Educational Launch of Nanosatellites mission. First contact was achieved a few days later. âI donât think words can express the amount of happiness and sense of accomplishment that came across the team during the first successful communications,â NA...