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Rocket Lab Corporation is a
publicly traded A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
aerospace manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of Aircraft design process, designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a hi ...
and launch service provider. Its Electron orbital rocket launches
small satellites A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites c ...
, and has launched 63 times as of April 2025. A sub-orbital Electron variant called HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) serves other needs. The company also supplies satellite components including star trackers, reaction wheels, solar cells and arrays, satellite radios, separation systems, as well as flight and ground software. The expendable Electron rocket first launched in May 2017. In August 2020, the company launched its first
Photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...
satellite. The company built and operates satellites for the
Space Development Agency The Space Development Agency (SDA) is a United States Space Force direct-reporting unit tasked with deploying disruptive space technology.SDA.miAbout Us One of the technologies being worked on is space-based missile tracking using large global s ...
, part of the
United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...
. In May 2022, the company attempted to recover a returning Electron booster with a helicopter. In 2024, the company announced that a booster recovered on an earlier launch would be reused. Rocket Lab was founded in
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
in 2006. By 2009, the successful launch of Ātea-1 made the organization the first
private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...
in the Southern Hemisphere to reach
space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
. The company established its
headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...
in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
in 2013. Rocket Lab acquired four companies, including Sinclair Interplanetary in April 2020, Advanced Solutions in December 2021, SolAero Holdings in January 2022, and Planetary Systems in December 2021. As of June 2024, the company had approximately 2,000 full-time permanent employees globally. Approximately 700 of these employees were based in New Zealand with the remainder in the United States. In August 2021, the company went
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
on the
Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...
through a SPAC merger.


History


Origin (2006–2012)

The company was founded in June 2006 by Peter Beck in
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, after a trip to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. During the trip, Beck realized the possibility and potential for a low-cost, small rocket. While contacting potential investors, he met Mark Rocket, who later became a seed investor and was co-director from 2007 to 2011. Other investors to the company included Stephen Tindall, Vinod Khosla, and the
New Zealand Government The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifica ...
. The company became the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space after launching its Ātea-1
sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...
in November 2009. The payload was not recovered, and the launch was deemed unsuccessful. The payload was a ballistic instrumentation dart and its trajectory depended only on the
boost phase A ballistic missile goes through several distinct phases of flight that are common to almost all such designs. They are, in order: * boost phase when the main boost rocket or upper stages are firing; * post-boost phase when any last-minute change ...
. The launch took place off the coast of New Zealand, from the private island ( Great Mercury Island) of Michael Fay, a New Zealand banker and Rocket Lab investor. In December 2010, the company was awarded a U.S. government contract from the Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) to study a low-cost space launcher to place
CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...
s into orbit. The agreement with
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
enabled the company to contract for limited
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
resources such as personnel, facilities, and equipment for commercial launch efforts.


United States move (2013–2020)

Around 2013, the company moved to the United States and established its headquarters in Huntington Beach, California. The move coincided with funding from American sources, and was in part due to increased U.S. government involvement. The New Zealand company became a subsidiary of the American company. In 2020, Rocket Lab moved to
Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
. The move was motivated by the need to accommodate the company's growing workforce and to be closer to suppliers and customers. The new facility includes a state-of-the-art production facility for manufacturing the company's Electron launch vehicle, as well as administrative offices and other support facilities. In 2013, funding was obtained from
Khosla Ventures Khosla Ventures is a private American venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California. It was founded by entrepreneur Vinod Khosla in 2004. The firm works with early-stage companies in the Internet, computing, mobile technology, artifici ...
, and Callaghan Innovation (a
Crown entity A Crown entity (from the Commonwealth term ''The Crown, Crown'') is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's public sector organisations in New Zealand, state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governa ...
of New Zealand). Bessemer Venture Partners invested in 2014 and
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
invested in 2015. Rocket Lab announced in March 2017 that it had raised an additional US$75 million in a Series D equity round led by Data Collective with participation by Promus Ventures and earlier investors. In May 2017, Callaghan Innovation funding was reported to total NZ$15 million. In November 2018, the company reported raising a $150 million Series E round led by Future Fund. The first
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
mission, launched in 2018, was valued by the space agency at $6.9 million (with launch services, etc., included). In 2018, Rocket Lab began to develop reusable first stage technology, after previously stating publicly that they had no intention of attempting to recover and reuse their launch vehicles. They disclosed the effort to study the potential recovery of an Electron first stage in August 2019, aiming to use a
parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...
and mid-air retrieval. In December 2019, they flight tested the reentry technology, a Rocket Lab proprietary aerothermal decelerator, on Electron flight number 10, and were able to decelerate the rocket and successfully bring it through the space to lower atmosphere transition. In November 2022, Rocket Lab cut the ribbon on an engine test facility for the Archimedes engine at NASA's
Stennis Space Center The John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) is a NASA rocket testing facility in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States, on the banks of the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River at the Mississippi–Louisiana border. , it is NASA ...
. In March 2020, the company announced that it had acquired Sinclair Interplanetary, a Canadian manufacturer of components for small satellites. Rocket Lab said that it would use Sinclair technology on its
Photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...
line of small
satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...
es, and that it would help Sinclair increase production of small satellite components for sale to other firms. Thereafter, Rocket Lab launched missions with some or all of the payload being made by Sinclair Interplanetary.


Public company (2021–present)

In March 2021, the company announced that it was planning to go public through an
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
(IPO) of stock in the second quarter of 2021. The company planned to accomplish the IPO through a
merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...
with a
special-purpose acquisition company A special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a blank check company or a blind-pool stock offering, is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring (or merging with) a private company, thus taking ...
(SPAC) called Vector Acquisition Corporation (VACQ). The merger planned to value the company at US$4.1 billion and provide the company with $790 million in working capital to support the
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...
of a medium-lift two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle called
Neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...
, aiming for the mega-constellation satellite deployment market. Neutron was planned to be partially reusable with the booster stage performing a Return To Launch Site (RTLS) landing, to be refurbished and relaunched. The company began trading on the
Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
stock exchange on 25 August 2021 after merging with SPAC Vector Acquisition at a $4.8 billion valuation. The transaction added $777 million in gross cash. At the time Rocket Lab had over 500 employees and it had successfully launched 105 satellites into orbit. Rocket Lab's launch business booked revenues of $13.5 million in 2018, $48 million in 2019 and an estimated $33 million in 2020. Rocket Lab spent somewhere between $250 million to $300 million of the cash gained from going public to develop Neutron. Rocket Lab aimed to launch Neutron by 2025. As of August 2021, the company intended to build a new factory in the United States to build the rockets as well as launch infrastructure for Neutron at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in
Wallops Island Wallops Island is a island in Accomack County, Virginia, part of the Virginia Barrier Islands that stretch along the eastern seaboard of the United States. It is just south of Chincoteague Island, a popular tourist destination. Wallops Isla ...
, Virginia. In October 2021, the company acquired Advanced Solutions, Inc (ASI), a
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
-based spacecraft flight software company. In November 2021, the company acquired Planetary Systems Corporation (PSC), a manufacturer of satellite separation systems for $81.4 million. In January 2022, the company acquired SolAero, a supplier of space solar power products. On 3 May 2022, in the "There And Back Again" mission, the company launched its
Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
rocket from New Zealand and attempted to recover it for the first time. It was able to capture the falling rocket booster in mid-air, a historic first.
Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
later said that the booster was hanging improperly, so it was allowed to parachute into the water where it was extracted by a ship. In August 2022, the company revealed plans to become the first private company to reach
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
. The company is building a small probe, called the Venus Life Finder (VLF), which is designed to plunge through Venus's upper atmosphere for roughly five minutes between and above the planets' surface, searching for organic compounds. As of March 2025, the target launch date aboard the Electron rocket was the Summer of 2026. In October 2023, Rocket Lab officially opened its engine development facility in Long Beach to support the development of the
Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...
engine. The facility, including production assets such as machinery and equipment, had been acquired in May 2023 out of Virgin Orbit's bankruptcy proceedings. In January 2024, Rocket Lab became the prime contractor for a $515M USSF military satellite project, the company's largest contract to date. In April 2024, the company announced it would begin selling carbon composite products to customers. As of 2024, the company was developing the bigger Neutron reusable unibody rocket; multiple spacecraft buses, and
rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...
s: Rutherford,
Curie Curie may refer to: *Curie family, a family of distinguished scientists: :* Jacques Curie (1856–1941), French physicist, Pierre's brother :* Pierre Curie (1859–1906), French physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Marie's husband :* Marie Curi ...
, HyperCurie, and
Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...
. In mid 2024, the company entered the engine test phase in Neutron's development process. In November 2024, news reports said the company threatened an academic in New Zealand with a defamation lawsuit for comments that Rocket Lab was involved with US military control over nuclear weapons. In May 2025, Rocket Lab entered into an agreement to acquire Geost. This has increased their total headcount by 115 highly trained professionals bringing Rocket Lab’s total headcount to more than 2,600 employees. On 30 May 2025, Rocket Lab signed a $460 million agreement with Geost to build the Golden Dome missile defense system.


Hardware


Electron orbital rocket

Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
is a two-stage launch vehicle that uses Rocket Lab's Rutherford liquid engines on both stages. The vehicle is capable of delivering payloads of 150 kg to a 500 km
Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...
. The projected cost is less than US$5 million per launch. The Rutherford engine uses pumps driven by battery-powered electric motors rather than a
gas generator A gas generator is a device for generating gas. A gas generator may create gas by a chemical reaction or from a solid or liquid source, when storing a pressurized gas is undesirable or impractical. The term often refers to a device that uses a ...
, expander, or preburner. The engine is fabricated largely by
3D printing 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...
, using electron beam melting, whereby layers of metal powder are melted in a high vacuum by an electron beam. By March 2016, the second-stage Rutherford engine had completed firing tests. The first test flight took place on 25 May 2017 from Māhia Peninsula on New Zealand's North Island. After reaching an altitude of about , the rocket was performing nominally, but telemetry was lost and flight control destroyed it. On 21 January 2018, their second rocket, on a flight named "Still Testing", launched, reached orbit and deployed three
CubeSats A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...
for customers
Planet Labs Planet Labs PBC (formerly Planet Labs, Inc. and Cosmogia, Inc.) is a publicly traded American Earth imaging company based in San Francisco, California. Their goal is to image the entirety of the Earth daily to monitor changes and pinpoint tren ...
and Spire Global. The rocket also carried a satellite payload called '' Humanity Star'', a carbon fiber geodesic sphere made of 65 panels that reflect the Sun's light. ''Humanity Star'' re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up in March 2018. On 11 November 2018, the first commercial launch (third launch overall) took off from Māhia Peninsula carrying satellites for Spire Global, GeoOptics, a CubeSat built by high school students, and a prototype of a dragsail. On 4 July 2020, an issue during the second-stage burn of flight 13, named "Pics or It Didn't Happen", caused Electron to fail to get into orbit and its payloads were lost. On 19 November 2020, a launch mission named "Return to Sender" successfully deployed its payload of 30
small satellites A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites c ...
. First stage recovery was also successfully implemented. On 15 May 2021, the company launched "Running Out Of Toes" which successfully used the first stage recovery method like the one used on "Return to Sender". However, the rocket failed to place its payload of two BlackSky satellites into orbit after an issue occurred with the second stage. On 15 September 2022, Rocket Lab launched "The Owl Spreads Its Wings" mission, sending a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite into Earth orbit. On September 19, 2023, the Electron failed its mission to deliver a Capella Space synthetic-aperture radar imaging satellite when the rocket's second stage failed shortly after separation. Electron successfully returned to flight on December 14 with the launch of a Japanese radar imaging satellite, which marked a record 10th flight for the rocket in 2023. Two attempts have been made to recover an Electron booster by helicopter. In addition, six attempts have been made at soft water recovery.


HASTE suborbital rocket

Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) is a suborbital testbed launch vehicle derived from the
Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
orbital rocket. HASTE provides flight test opportunities for hypersonic and suborbital system technology development. It successfully launched its first mission "Scout's Arrow" on 18 June 2023, for
Leidos Leidos Holdings, Inc. is an American defense company, defense, Aerospace manufacturer, aviation, information technology, and biomedical research company headquartered in Reston, Virginia, that provides scientific, engineering, systems integrati ...
. HASTE has a payload capacity of , double that of Electron. It can deploy payloads from altitude and higher. In 2024, two HASTE launches were planned. As of November 2023 Rocket Lab had contracted for at least six HASTE missions.


Neutron reusable rocket

The company announced in March 2021 that it was developing a new medium-lift two-stage
human-rated Human-rating certification, also known as man-rating or crew-rating, is the certification of a spacecraft or launch vehicle as capable of safely transporting humans. There is no one particular standard for human-rating a spacecraft or launch veh ...
launch vehicle called ''
Neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...
''. Neutron is expected to be tall with a fairing. It will have capacities. Rocket Lab said they aim to make the first stage of the vehicle reusable, with landings planned on a floating landing platform downrange in the ocean. This method is similar to how
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
recovers the
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
and
Falcon Heavy Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket consists of a center core ...
rockets. During a question and answer session with space and rocket communicator Scott Manley, Beck indicated a preference to avoid fixed assets such as landing barges. This indicated that design work had proceeded on the basis that the Neutron would return for landing rather than landing downrange. Neutron launches are intended to take place from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on the eastern coast of Virginia. Rocket Lab is expected to modify the existing launch pad infrastructure at Launch Pad 0A (LP-0A). In March 2022, Rocket Lab announced that Neutron will be manufactured at a facility adjacent to MARS Launch Complex 2. Launch Complex 2 is currently being used for
Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
launches. Rocket Lab began to break ground for this facility on 11 April 2022. As of March 2021, the company is planning for the first launch no earlier than mid-2025. In mid-2024, the company completed assembly on the first Archimedes engine, to undergo testing at
Stennis Space Center The John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) is a NASA rocket testing facility in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States, on the banks of the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River at the Mississippi–Louisiana border. , it is NASA ...
, as well as some assembly on Neutron's fairings.


Ātea sounding rocket

The first and only launch of the ''Ātea'' ( Māori for "space") sub-orbital sounding rocket occurred in late 2009. The rocket, weighing approximately , was designed to carry a payload to an altitude of around . It was intended to carry scientific payloads or possibly personal items. ''Ātea-1'', named ''Manu Karere'' or ''Bird Messenger'' by the local Māori
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
, was successfully launched from Great Mercury Island near Coromandel Peninsula on 30 November 2009 at 01:23 UTC (14:23 local time). The rocket was tracked by a GPS uplink to the Inmarsat-B satellite constellation. After the flight, Ātea-1 splashed down approximately downrange. The payload had no telemetry downlink, but carried
instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...
. The payload was not recovered as it was a dart of no value. The company advised that should it be encountered by vessels at sea, the payload should not be handled as it was " potentially hazardous" and contained delicate instruments. Performance characteristics were determined by the boost stage using downlink telemetry, and was recovered. This allowed Rocket Lab to move the entire team to the Electron rocket.


Photon satellite bus


Notable missions

In February 2020, Rocket Lab was selected by
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
to launch the CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) on
Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
and deploy it to lunar orbit from a Photon spacecraft bus. CAPSTONE is a microwave oven–sized CubeSat weighing 55 pounds and is the first spacecraft to test a unique, elliptical lunar orbit. As a pathfinder for the
Lunar Gateway The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is a planned space station which is to be assembled in orbit around the Moon. The Gateway is intended to serve as a communication hub, science laboratory, and habitation module for astronauts as part ...
, a Moon-orbiting outpost that is part of NASA's
Artemis program The Artemis program is a Exploration of the Moon, Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), formally established in 2017 via Space Policy Directive 1. The program's stated long-ter ...
, CAPSTONE will help reduce risk for future spacecraft by validating innovative navigation technologies and verifying the dynamics of this halo-shaped orbit. Originally scheduled to launch from Virginia, the launch location was adjusted to Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand in August 2021 due to delays in certifying the NASA autonomous flight termination system planned to fly on Electron missions from Launch Complex 2. The CAPSTONE mission was successfully launched on Electron in June 2022 and on July 4th Photon's HyperCurie engine completed the final Translunar Injection Burn, successfully releasing the CAPSTONE spacecraft on a trajectory to lunar orbit. CAPSTONE completed its primary six-month mission and as of July 2023 was continuing an enhanced mission to deliver ongoing data in support of Artemis.


Viscous liquid monopropellant

In 2012, the company demonstrated a rocket propelled by a viscous liquid monopropellant (VLM) developed via
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...
and Office of Naval Research (NRL) work. The VLM was reported to be thixotropic, so that it behaves as a pseudo-solid until a shear force is applied, after which it flows like a liquid. The VLM density was reported to be comparable to solid-rocket propellant. The VLM reportedly required no special handling, was non-toxic, water-soluble, had low sensitivity to shock, a high ignition point, and was barely flammable in atmosphere. The company earned a US patent on the system.


Instant Eyes

In 2011, Rocket Lab had a program called "Instant Eyes". The Instant Eyes
unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...
(UAV) was designed for military applications requiring a bird's-eye view, much like drones. Upon launching, the rocket with its 5
megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a Raster graphics, raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, p ...
camera would reach an altitude of within 20 seconds.


Mars sample return

In October 2024, Rocket Lab was awarded a NASA contract to explore new concepts for a sample return from the surface of Mars.


Facilities


Manufacturing

In October 2018, the company revealed their new manufacturing facility in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, New Zealand. It is intended for the production of propellant tanks and stage builds, and is in charge of the overall integration of launch vehicles at Launch Complex 1. The company's headquarters in Long Beach, California, produces their Rutherford engines and
avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...
. The company's primary manufacturing facility is located in Huntington Beach, where rocket components are manufactured and assembled before traveling to the New Zealand launch site. The manufacturing process begins with the production of the
Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
rocket's first stage, which is built using carbon composite. The material is designed to be strong and lightweight. Once the first stage is complete, it is transported to the New Zealand launch site, where the second stage and other components are added. The second stage is powered by a single Rutherford engine. The engine uses an electric pump-fed propulsion system. Manufacturing the carbon composite components of the main flight structure has traditionally required 400 hours, involving extensive hand labor. In late 2019, Rocket Lab brought a new robotic manufacturing capability online to produce Electron's composite parts in 12 hours. The robot was named " Rosie the Robot", after '' The Jetsons'' character. The process can make all the carbon fiber structures as well as handle cutting, drilling, and sanding such that the parts are ready for final assembly. The company objective as of November 2019 was to reduce the overall Electron manufacturing cycle to seven days. Rutherford engine production uses additive manufacturing. In October 2023, Rocket Lab announced it had acquired carbon composite manufacturing facilities, equipment and more than 50 team members from SailGP Technologies in
Warkworth, New Zealand Warkworth () is a town on the Northland Peninsula in the upper North Island of New Zealand. It is in the northern part of the Auckland Region, north of Auckland and south of Whangārei, at the head of Mahurangi Harbour. State Highway 1 (New Ze ...
. SailGP was already a supplier to Rocket Lab, so when SailGP announced plans to move operations to the UK, Rocket Lab took over the facilities and employees to support a growing production rate for the Electron rocket and the rapid development of
Neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...
. In October 2023, Rocket Lab officially opened its Engine Development Center in Long Beach in the former Virgin Orbit factory, where the company now builds Rutherford and Archimedes engines. In November 2023, Rocket Lab announced plans to establish a Space Structures Complex in Middle River, Maryland, deliver a comprehensive suite of advanced composite products for the space industry and to further vertically integrate supply for the company's internal needs across launch and space systems. The site will also play a role in the development and long-term supply of carbon composite structures for Neutron. Through the acquisition of SolAero, Rocket Lab also has facilities in
Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
. Through the acquisition of ASI, the company has facilities in
Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...
. Through the acquisition of Planetary Systems Corporation, the company has facilities in Maryland, and in Toronto, Canada through the acquisition of Sinclair Interplanetary. In September 2021, Rocket Lab announced it was expanding production of reaction wheels with a new production line in Auckland to support production of up to 2,000 reaction wheels per year for an undisclosed mega-constellation customer.


Launch Complex 1

The company's Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) is a private orbital launch site located on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. The site consists of two launch pads, a vehicle integration facility, and a range control center. It was designed to support the company's
Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
launch vehicle, which is optimized for small satellite launches. The company originally planned to use Kaitorete Spit as their primary launch site and Mahia Peninsula as a secondary one. After encountering difficulty in obtaining resource consent for Kaitorete Spit launch site, Rocket Lab announced in November 2015 that its primary launch site would be on the Māhia Peninsula, east of Wairoa on the North Island. The site is licensed to launch rockets every 72 hours for 30 years. Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 (LC-1A) was officially opened on 26 September 2016 ( UTC; 27 September NZDT). In December 2019, Rocket Lab began construction of a second pad on Māhia Peninsula named Launch Complex 1B. On 28 February 2022, Launch Complex 1B hosted its first launch: " The Owl's Night Continues". LC-1 has been in operation since 2017 and has supported numerous launches for a variety of customers, including NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and commercial satellite operators. LC-1A was the first part of LC-1 and was introduced in 2017. The first launch supported from LC-1A was " It's a Test". LC-1B was added later in February 2022. "The Owl's Night Continues" was the first launch supported from LC-1B.


Launch Complex 2

In late 2018, the company selected MARS as their second launch site. Decision factors included infrastructure readiness, few launches from other companies, and the ability to supplement LC-1 orbital inclinations. It was expected to be capable of monthly launches. Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) is located within the fence line of MARS Launch Pad 0A. In December 2019, construction of the launch pad was completed and Rocket Lab inaugurated LC-2. The first
Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
launch from LC-2 happened on 24 January 2023 during the "Virginia is for launch lovers" mission, named in celebration of the launch. The launch placed three satellites in orbit. Two more missions were later launched from LC-2.


Launch Complex 3

In October 2023, construction of a new launch site between LP-0A and LP-0B was observed. The launch site (for
Neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...
) will be named Launch pad 0D (LP-0D). Rocket Lab refers to LP-0D as Launch Complex 3 or LC-3 (located at ). Progress was seen in April 2024 with the installation of the water tower. Concrete work was reportedly completed in May 2024.


See also

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References


External links

* * {{Rocket Lab 2013 establishments in California Aerospace companies of New Zealand Aerospace companies of the United States American companies established in 2006 Commercial launch service providers Companies based in Huntington Beach, California Companies listed on the Nasdaq Manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles New Zealand companies established in 2006 New Zealand subsidiaries of foreign companies Private spaceflight companies Rocket engine manufacturers of the United States Sounding rockets of New Zealand Special-purpose acquisition companies Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Technology companies established in 2006 Transport companies established in 2006 Transport companies of New Zealand Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2006 New Zealand design