Rocket Labs Launches Second Electron It's Business Time – Quartz

Rocket Lab has achieved its first commercial launch, establishing a dominant position in the rapidly growing market of the small satellite in orbit.

The company's Electron rocket was launched on November 11 at 4:50 pm local time from the company's launch site in New Zealand, with six satellites.

"We are excited to lead the small satellite launch sector by reaching a second orbit and deploying more payloads," said CEO Peter Beck.

Electron, about a quarter of the size of the 70-meter high SpaceX Falcon 9, is designed to propel cargoes weighing from 150 to 225 kg (330 to 496 lb) into orbit around the earth.

This size is no coincidence: Rocket Lab is about to conquer dozens of well-funded companies that build vast constellations of small satellites based on powerful miniaturized electronics.

The closest competitors to the company, including Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit; Vector Launch, founded by former members of the SpaceX team; and Firefly Aerospace – are now facing renewed pressure to get into orbit.

Rocket Lab, headquartered in Southern California, was founded in 2008 under the leadership of CEO Peter Beck and has been integrated into a DARPA program to develop small rocket engines for the world's largest rocket group. American army. He received a grant of $ 25 million from the New Zealand government and, last year, $ 75 million worth of investors, representing $ 1 billion.

Rocket Lab is the only private company with its own launch site on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. According to Beck, this gives it an edge over other companies looking to offer fast and flexible launch options to satellite manufacturers. the company will also operate from a NASA launch site in Virginia.

Beck hopes the company will start flying weekly in 2019. The company launched its first rocket in January 2018, setting up satellites and putting an artistic project into orbit.

The company's second launch was scheduled for June, but minor rocket-related issues and launch-site radar systems led to delays, a typical experience in the space sector. Now, the mission called "It's Business Time" (reference to the joke to another global icon of the kiwi) finally marks the transition of society to commercial activities.

"With the Electron launcher, fast and reliable access to space is now a reality for small satellites," Beck said. To prove it, the company's next mission will launch ten experimental cubesats for the NASA space agency in December.

Customers of the latest Rocket Lab vehicle include Spire, a company that uses satellites to track ships, planes and weather from its orbit; Fleet Space Systems, which hopes to provide communications for IoT applications; and satellites of students from the University of Irvine. Other clients of Rocket Lab include Spaceflight launch broker, Kleos Space and Circle Aerospace.