US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has today confirmed its next launch will be the companyโs first fully commercial flight. Two Lemur-2 cubesats for launch customer Spire Global will be on board the upcoming launch, with the full manifest to be confirmed in coming weeks.
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The flightโs name was put to a vote on social media, with โItโs Business Timeโ coming out as a clear fan favorite and a continuation of companyโs previous flight names, โItโs a Testโ and โStill Testingโ.ย
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Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says โItโs Business Timeโ highlights Rocket Labโs agile approach to responsive space. The launch has been manifested just weeks out from launch, rather than the many months or years it can typically take under existing launch models.
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โWe came at the challenge of opening access to space from a new perspective. Building to tail numbers and tailoring a vehicle to the payload is a rigid and slow way of getting satellites on orbit. As the satellite industry continues to innovate at break-neck pace and the demand for orbital infrastructure grows, weโre there with a production line of Electron vehicles ready to go and a private launch site licensed for flight every 72 hours. Launch will no longer be the bottleneck that slows innovation in space,โ he says.ย ย
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โWe always set out to test a launch vehicle that was as close to production-ready as possible. To complete a test program so quickly and be flying commercial customers is a great feeling. Itโs business time,โ Mr Beck adds.
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Rocket Labโs third Electron vehicle will be shipped to Launch Complex 1 on New Zealandโs Mฤhia Peninsula in coming weeks, where final checkouts will be completed ahead of the โItโs Business Timeโ launch.
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This year Rocket Lab is increasing its launch cadence and scaling up production of the Electron launch vehicle to meet a growing manifest. The company aims to produce 100 Rutherford engines in 2018 from its three-acre headquarters and production facility in Huntington Beach, California. More than 30 engines have already been completed and are undergoing integration onto Electron vehicles.
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Rocket Labโs first test launch, โItโs a Test,โ was completed in May 2017, with the second test, โStill Testing,โ taking place in January 2018. This flight successfully reached orbit, deployed commercial customer payloads for Planet and Spire Global and circularized an orbit using a previously unannounced kick stage.
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For real-time updates in the lead up to โItโs Business Timeโ, follow Rocket Lab on Twitter @RocketLab
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Media Contact:
Morgan Bailey | (+64) 27 538 9039 | morgan@rocketlabusa.com
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Images and video content:
www.rocketlabusa.com/gallery/
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About Rocket Lab:
Rocket Labโs mission is to revolutionize the way we access space by developing and launching advanced rockets to put small payloads into orbit frequently and at a fraction of the cost of cumbersome traditional launch services. On January 21 2018, Rocket Lab reached orbit with the launch of the Electron vehicle and successfully deployed the companyโs first commercial payloads. It marked a significant milestone in eliminating commercial barriers and ushering in a new era of unprecedented access to space. Founded in 2006 by Peter Beck, Rocket Lab is headquartered in Los Angeles with operations and a launch site in New Zealand. It is a privately funded company with investors including Khosla Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC (Data Collective), Lockheed Martin, Promus Ventures and K1W1.