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Tag: Electron

Rocket Lab USA launches first US mission for NRO from Wallops

California-based Rocket Lab USA successfully launched a mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on Thursday from Launch Complex 2 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County, the aerospace company announced. 

The Eastern Shore mission, dubbed “Live and Let Fly,” was Rocket Lab’s first launch from U.S. soil for the NRO, which builds, designs, launches and maintains reconnaissance satellites and provides satellite intelligence, imaging and other data for the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. Rocket Lab previously launched four successful missions for the agency from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. 

“We are proud to once again deliver mission success for the NRO on Electron,” Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “The NRO have placed their trust in Rocket Lab since our first launch together in 2020, and it’s an honor to continue delivering dedicated access to orbit for national security missions, this time from the other side of the planet.”

NRO missions provide critical information to a half-million government users, including members of the intelligence community, domestic agencies, the military and lawmakers.

The NRO selected Rocket Lab for the mission through the agency’s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract. The contract process “enables the NRO to explore new opportunities for launching small satellites through a streamlined, commercial approach,” Rocket Lab said in the statement.

Beck added, “The RASR contract process is an innovative, forward-leaning approach from the NRO that has allowed the agency to capitalize on the speed and responsiveness of commercial launch services, and we’re thrilled to make it possible with Electron.”

Rocket Lab announced in February 2022 that it had selected Wallops Island as the location for its launch site and a new manufacturing and assembly complex for its new, reusable Neutron rocket.

Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle, the Photon satellite platform and is developing the Neutron.​​ Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle is the second most-frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered more than 180 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, according to the company. 

Rocket Lab has two launch sites in New Zealand in addition to the one at Wallops. The mission was Rocket Lab’s 46th Electron launch overall.

Rocket Lab launches first mission from U.S. soil

After more than a month’s delay, Rocket Lab USA’s first launch from U.S. soil at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County blasted off Tuesday evening.

The mission, “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” lifted off around 6 p.m. EST from the company’s Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within the NASA facility, sending its 60-foot-tall Electron rocket into space, where it successfully deployed three satellites into low Earth orbit for Herndon-based satellite analytics company HawkEye 360.

About 90 seconds after lift off, Electron’s nine Rutherford engines were propelling the rocket at speeds of about 3,000 kilometers per hour, or more than 1,800 miles per hour, according to video of the launch.

The Electron rocket launch from Virginia supplements Rocket Lab’s New Zealand-based Launch Complex 1 from which 31 Electron missions have previously taken off. Combined, the two pads can support more than 130 launch opportunities every year, Rocket Lab said in a news release. Launch Complex 2, which was built for Electron, is expected to support up to 12 missions annually.

“We’re immensely proud to have delivered mission success for HawkEye 360,” Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement. “With Launch Complex 2, we set out to create a new path to orbit from U.S. soil after more than 30 Electron launches from New Zealand, and what could be more fitting for the first Virginia mission than launching a Virginia-built satellite? We couldn’t ask for better mission partners in HawkEye 360 and Virginia Space, and we look forward to many more missions together.”

The mission is the first of three planned with HawkEye 360 through 2024 as the company seeks to boost its ability to collect radio frequency data across the globe and expands its constellation to 18 satellites. HawkEye opened a new, 19,000-square-foot facility in Herndon in July to boost production of its satellites.

“We are happy to report that our Cluster 6 next-generation satellites have reached orbit and we look forward to ramping up operations in the weeks ahead and fully integrating them into our constellation,” HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini said in a statement. “We are grateful for our valued mission partners, Rocket Lab and the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, who worked alongside our fantastic HawkEye 360 team to make this inaugural Virginia launch a success.”

Rocket Lab initially announced in November 2022 that it had established a 13-day launch window in December 2022. That was set following progress by NASA in certifying its Autonomous Flight Termination Unit software, which is required to enable Electron launches from Virginia. The NASA Wallops Flight Facility blamed unfavorable weather conditions and range/airspace availability for delays on its social media.

Electron’s first U.S. launch brings even more visibility to Virginia’s Eastern Shore as well as to the state’s space industry. Rocket Lab announced in February 2022 that it had selected Wallops Island as the location for its launch site and a new manufacturing and assembly complex for its new, reusable Neutron rocket, a move that is expected to bring 250 jobs.

“We are honored to support the launch of this historic mission,” Ted Mercer, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, known as Virginia Space, said in a statement. Virginia Space owns and operates the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops. “In addition to being Rocket Lab’s first and only U.S. launch location, we will also be building rockets and processing their payload right here in Accomack County — something that has never been done in Virginia. Our partnership with Rocket Lab is a unique opportunity for the commonwealth of Virginia to create long-term economic development opportunities in the form of high-paying jobs, launch viewing tourism, and construction of new facilities on the Eastern Shore.”

 

Rocket Lab announces December Va. launch window

Rocket Lab USA Inc. will launch the first U.S. mission for its Electron rocket from a launch pad on NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County during a 13-day window that opens Dec. 7.

The company announced the Wallops launch Thursday. The mission, called “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” will deploy satellites for Herndon-based HawkEye 360 and will be Rocket Lab’s first liftoff from the company’s Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within the NASA facility. The launch pad was built for the company’s Electron rocket and is the company’s first launch site in the United States.

California-based Rocket Lab announced in February that it selected Wallops Island as the location for its launch site and a new manufacturing and assembly complex for its new Neutron rocket. The Electron rocket launch from Virginia will supplement its Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, from which 31 Electron missions have previously taken off. Combined, the two pads can support more than 130 launch opportunities every year, Rocket Lab said in a news release.

The Electron is a small, two-stage, partially recoverable orbital launch rocket that stands about 60 feet high and measures about four feet in diameter. Rocket Lab has flown 32 Electron missions, including three failed missions, since the first Electron flight in 2017.

The December launch window has been set following progress by NASA in certifying its Autonomous Flight Termination Unit software, which is required to enable Electron launches from Virginia.

“We are honored and excited to bring a new launch capability to Virginia’s Eastern Shore,” Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement. “Electron is well established as the leader in small launch, reliably serving the responsive space needs of the commercial, civil, DoD (Department of Defense), and national security markets alike. With our inaugural mission from Launch Complex 2, we are immensely proud to expand on this strong launch heritage by enabling a new capability for the nation from Virginian soil. We look forward to making history this December with our dedicated mission partners HawkEye 360, NASA and Virginia Space.”

The Electron launch in December is the first of three it will undertake for HawkEye 360 in a contact to deliver 15 satellites to low Earth orbit between 2022 and 2024. Rocket Lab will also provide HawkEye 360 with separation systems produced by Planetary Systems Corporation, a Maryland-based space hardware company acquired by Rocket Lab in December 2021.

“We’re proud to be a Virginia-based company, with Virginia-developed technology, launching out of the Virginia spaceport,” HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini said in a statement. “We selected Rocket Lab because of the flexibility it enables for us to place the satellites into an orbit tailored to benefit our customers. Deploying our satellites on Rocket Lab’s inaugural launch is a giant leap in Virginia’s flourishing space economy.”

HawkEye opened a new, 19,000-square-foot facility in Herndon in July to boost production of its satellites.

With the December launch of the satellites, its sixth cluster of three, HawkEye will have placed 15 next-generation satellites into orbit within two years. A seventh cluster is anticipated to launch in February, followed by clusters 8 and 9 mid-2023. Once its latest cluster is commissioned, HawkEye will be able to collect radio frequency data as frequently as every hour anywhere in the world, the company said in a news release.

NASA’s Wallops visitor center will be open for the launch.  A live webcast will also be available at www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream from around T-40 minutes.