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The second mission of Rocket Lab, dubbed "It's Business Time", was successfully launched from a New Zealand launch pad this weekend.
A crazy American rocket startup has set the bar very high in the market for companies that launch small satellites.
Rocket Lab's Electron rocket launched six small satellites – or small satellites – into low Earth orbit Sunday from New Zealand. This is the second time that the rocket of the company, from a height of less than 20 meters, does it.
Rocket Lab's rivals have yet to launch an orbital launch, which means it is at the forefront of a growing cluster of rocket startups that want to launch small-scale rocket performance. companies and researchers.
Other leading companies in the Smallsat launch sector include Virgin Orbit by Richard Branson and SpaceX veteran Jim Cantrell's Vector.
"[My team] Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab, told CNN Business Sunday.
Why smallsats?
As mobile phones have declined, similar technological advances have made satellites smaller and more efficient.
However, the rockets were not reduced and the small satellites were forced to acquire much larger payloads, like the SpaceX Falcon 9 or the Russian Soyuz rocket.
Small businesses are often forced to wait for long periods to have free space on board a rocket.
Rocket Lab and many other startups aim to change that by driving smaller and less powerful rockets. Companies want to mass-produce rockets and offer much more frequent trips into space.
Rocket Lab's Sunday mission included payloads for customers such as Spire Global, which collects data on ships and planes around the world, and Fleet Space Technologies, which aims to connect remote devices to the Internet.
Beck, the head of the Rocket Lab, told CNN Business that Australia-based Fleet Technologies had been delayed for more than a year while waiting for its payload to go into orbit. Fleet contacted Rocket Lab about a month ago and the company's satellite was able to board Electron by Sunday.
"It's really what it's about. This is how we will make space accessible, "said Beck.
Paying a dedicated launcher, like Rocket Lab's Electron, can cost smaller operators more money than getting into a larger rocket.
But Beck said that many manufacturers are willing to pay for the convenience of an Electron rocket. When the company goes full speed, he says Electrons will launch satellites into space every two weeks.
The third Rocket Lab flight is scheduled for next month and the fourth is scheduled for January 2019. The company hopes to make 16 launches next year.
Size the competition
The Rocket Lab competition may not be too late.
Virgin Orbit, a company belonging to the Virgin group Branson, wants to launch the small machine early next year. His system launches a rocket under the wing of a Boeing 747 in the air.
Vector, the original idea of the former SpaceX Cantrell executive, is also planning an inaugural orbital flight in the coming months.
Dozens of other startups are waiting behind the scenes. Experts suspect there will eventually be a market easing and there is no guarantee that Rocket Lab will survive.
"Starting first does not necessarily mean you win," said Steve Isakowtiz, CEO of the nonprofit research group The Aerospace Corporation, at CNN Business. "Can they go to the market? Can they maintain it throughout production? And do they have the clientele?
Beck, the head of the Rocket Lab, said he thought the market was heading toward a "brutal consolidation" over the next 12 to 18 months, which would leave only a few companies. And he is confident that Rocket Lab will be one of them, he said.
The company, which Beck is about to make a profit, raised $ 148 million in venture capital and built factories capable of making one rocket a week.
"Anyone who owns a rocket company and tells you that his departure is fluid lives in a different world," Beck said. "But we have succeeded and there will be others to come. It's now about scaling and continuing to lead. "
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