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The first rocket launch based in the United States by a newcomer to the space industry could come from the Florida Space Coast as early as next year.
Rocket Lab ranked Cape Canaveral as one of four potential locations would send into orbit its two-stage Electron light rocket in the second quarter of 2019.
The Huntington Beach, California, company also listed the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska and the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as finalists
Rocket Lab specializes in launching small satellites, known as CubeSats, a region of the United States. 39, space industry that quickly appeared.
CubeSats are essentially miniaturized satellites used in space research. Large experiments and payloads to launch in space.
The company already has a launch pad in New Zealand.
"The launch from US soil adds an extra layer of flexibility to our government and," Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement announcing the finalist sites
Cost of Construction of the platform, regulatory barriers and anticipated operational costs Among the factors taken into account by the company to determine the location of the platform is Launch Complex 2.
site will be announced in August, said company officials
.The first launch is scheduled for the second quarter of next year.
The Electron is a disposable rocket to two floors of 56 feet long and 23,000 pounds that launched an unsuccessful test flight on May 25, 2017. launch, the first to successfully deploy satellites, then arrived on January 21.
The first launch commercial was not planned, but should come from the company's New Zealand pad.
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