Tag: Rocket Lab

10 CubeSats Ready for NASA’s First Venture Class Launch

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Electron It’s Business Time lift-off (Credits: Kieran Fanning & Sam Toms)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — RNASA will enable the launch of 10 small research satellites, or CubeSats, selected through the CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) for launch on Rocket Lab’s first mission for NASA. The CubeSats were built by three NASA centers, seven universities, and a middle school as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellite XIX (ELaNa-19) mission.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — More than 250 students have been involved in the design, development and construction of the CubeSats scheduled to be flown as payloads on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. This mission will be the first launch under NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) contracts, which aims to provide a dedicated launch capability for smaller payloads such as CubeSats on smaller rockets.

Rocket Lab is now targeting the ELaNa-19 launch Dec. 15 with a launch window opening at 11 p.m. EST from the company’s launch complex on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.
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Rocket Lab Prepares to Launch CubeSat Mission for NASA

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Electron It’s Business Time lift-off (Credits: Kieran Fanning & Sam Toms)

Huntington Beach, California (Rocket Lab PR) – US small satellite launch company Rocket Lab is gearing up for the company’s third orbital launch of the year, the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)-19 mission for NASA. The launch is a significant moment for the small satellite industry, as it’s the first time NASA CubeSats will enjoy a dedicated ride to orbit on a commercial launch vehicle, thanks to NASA’s forward-leaning Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) initiative.  VCLS is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program headquartered at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Video: A Look at NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services Program

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Video Caption: For years, tiny CubeSat satellites could only fly into space as hitchhikers, riding along with larger, primary payloads. Now, thanks to Venture Class Launch Services, these small packages of big science are getting their own rides into space on dedicated rockets — and on their own terms. Rocket Lab USA of Huntington Beach, California, and Virgin Orbit of Long Beach, California, are the two companies poised to propel CubeSats from coach class to first class.

Spaceflight Launches 64 Small Satellites on SpaceX’s Falcon 9

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Falcon 9 lifts off on Spaceflight SSO-A mission. (Credit: SpaceX webcast)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.,  Dec. 3, 2018 (Spaceflight PR) – Spaceflight, the leading rideshare and mission management provider, today announced the success of its SSO-A: SmallSat Express mission, the largest single rideshare mission from a U.S.-based launch vehicle to date. The company successfully launched 64 spacecraft to sun-synchronous low Earth orbit via a SpaceX Falcon 9 that launched today from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

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Rocket Lab Raises $140 Million in Funding

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Electron It’s Business Time lift-off (Credits: Kieran Fanning & Sam Toms)
  • Rocket Lab reveals $140 million (USD) funding in Series E financing, closed in advance of the company’s second successful orbital mission, ‘It’s Business Time’ on 11 November.
  • Investors show continued ardent support in pre-‘It’s Business Time’ launch round led by existing backers Future Fund (Australia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund), with participation from current investors Greenspring Associates, Khosla Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC (Data Collective), Promus Ventures, and K1W1.
  • New investor, the Accident Compensation Corporation of New Zealand (ACC), also joins the round.
  • Funding will support continued Electron vehicle production expansion, new launch sites and three new major research and development programs.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., November 15, 2018 (Rocket Lab PR) – US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has closed a Series E financing round of $140 million (USD). The funding round closed last month, prior to the launch of the successful mission ‘It’s Business Time,’ and was led by existing investor Future Fund, with strong participation from current investors including Greenspring Associates, Khosla Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC (Data Collective), Promus Ventures and K1W1. New investor ACC also contributed to the round. The Series E round close brings total Rocket Lab funding to date to more than $288 million (USD), with the company now soaring past its previous $1 billion-plus (USD) valuation.

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Video: CNBC Interviews Rocket Lab Founder Peter Beck

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Video Caption: Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket comes at a price tag that’s only a fraction of the $50 million or more it costs to launch a larger rocket. How will that revolutionize the industry and expand who will be able to send satellites into space? Rocket Lab put seven spacecraft in orbit on Saturday with its first commercial launch, as the company grew its lead in the burgeoning small rocket industry.

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Rocket Lab Launches First Successful Commercial Electron Mission

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Electron It’s Business Time lift-off (Credits: Kieran Fanning & Sam Toms)
AUCKLAND, New Zealand. November 11, 2018 (Rocket Lab PR) — Rocket Lab has continued the success of its 2018 orbital launch program with the launch of seven payloads to orbit today. The mission, named ‘It’s Business Time,’ marks Rocket Lab’s second successful orbital launch and deployment of customer satellites.

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Fleet Space Technologies Joins Rocket Lab Manifest for It’s Business Time Mission

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Electron launch (Credit: Rocket Lab)

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., 29 October, 2018 (Rocket Lab PR) — US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has signed a contract with fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) start-up Fleet Space Technologies to launch two satellites that will form the foundation of a global IoT communications constellation. The two Proxima satellites are the first of a fleet of small, low-cost satellites that will provide internet connectivity for millions of sensor devices based in remote locations on Earth.

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Rocket Lab Unveils New High-volume Production Facility

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Rocket Lab production facility in Aukland, New Zealand. (Credit: Rocket Lab)

AUKLAND (Rocket Lab PR) — Rocket Lab has expanded its global footprint with the unveiling of a new production facility that rethinks the way orbital rockets are built. The new 7,500 sq/m (80,700 sq/ft) rocket development and production facility in Auckland, is designed for rapid mass production of the Electron rocket. Adding to Rocket Lab’s existing production facility and headquarters in Huntington Beach, California, the new facility brings Rocket Lab’s manufacturing footprint to more than 4.5 acres and enables the company to build an Electron rocket every week.

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Rocket Lab Selects Wallops Island for U.S. Launch Site

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Electron launch (Credit: Rocket Lab)

RICHMOND, Va. (Virginia Governor’s Office PR)—Governor Ralph Northam announced today that Rocket Lab, a California-based company, has chosen Virginia Space and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport as the location for Launch Complex-2 (LC-2), Rocket Lab’s first launch facility located in the United States.

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Rocket Lab Signs Contract to Launch First Satellites for Kleos Space Constellation

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Electron rocket on the launch pad. (Credit: Rocket Lab)

LUXEMBOURG and HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., 19 September 2018 (Rocket Lab/Kleos Space PR) — US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has signed a contract with Luxembourg-based satellite technology company Kleos Space to launch the scouting mission satellites that will geolocate maritime radio to guard borders, protect assets and save lives.

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Disruptive New Entrants Lead Small-satellite Launch Race

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CubeSats deployed from the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)

On-demand launch services and global ground station service expansion drive multiple growth opportunities that could take demand launch services revenues past $70 billion by 2030, finds Frost & Sullivan

LONDON, Aug. 7, 2018 (Frost & Sullivan PR) — Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Small-satellite Launch Services Market Quarterly Update Q2 2018, reveals that the market is abuzz with major service providers such as PSLV, CASC, Rocket Lab, JAXA, SpaceX, Roscosmos, and others launching a total of 62 small-satellites in the first quarter of 2018.

Frost & Sullivan now expects launch demand to increase to 11,740 small-satellites by 2030 with revenues reaching $70.10 billion. Commercial players will offer and enable real-time imagery, digital transformation, and seamless global connectivity.

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Loft Orbital Announces inSpace Mission Partner Program to Standardize Access to Space

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A Loft Orbital-owned and -operated microsatellite, flying multiple customer payloads onboard as a service. (Credit: Loft Orbital Solutions Inc.)

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 6, 2018 (Loft Orbital Solutions PR) — Loft Orbital Solutions, a provider of Space Infrastructure as a Service, announced this week that it has signed agreements with over 20 companies to join its inSpace Mission Partner Program as inaugural members.

inSpace partners are companies across the space value chain with whom Loft Orbital will collaborate for its end-to-end space mission offering. These partners span Satellite Bus, Launch Services, Ground Segment Services, Payload and Data Analytics. Each partner’s product has been validated for compatibility with Loft Orbital’s technology.

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Rocket Lab Signs Deal for 10 Dedicated Electron Launches

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Eelectron rocket on the launch pad. (Credit: Rocket Lab)

LOGAN, Utah,  August 7, 2018 (Rocket Lab PR) — US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has signed an agreement with Circle Aerospace for ten dedicated Electron launches, with the first launch scheduled to lift off in Q4 2019.

Headquartered in Dubai, Circle Aerospace is a new turnkey launch brokerage and satellite development company serving to catalyze the growth of a commercial space and small satellite industry across the United Arab Emirates and wider Gulf Cooperation Council nations (GCC). Circle Aerospace offers full-spectrum, bespoke orbital solutions, including the design, build, and launch of payloads for customers worldwide.

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Ecliptic Enterprises to Launch Hosted Payloads on Rocket Lab’s Electron Rockets

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Electron launch (Credit: Rocket Lab)

PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 7, 2018 (Ecliptic PR) – Rocket Lab USA and Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation have entered into an agreement to support Rocket Lab launch of Ecliptic-managed hosted payloads on the kick stage of Rocket Lab’s Electron rockets.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the two California-based firms was signed on August 1 and announced on August 7 at the 32nd annual Conference on Small Satellites, held at Utah State University in Logan, Utah August 4-9.

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