Rocket Lab Increases Electron Payload Capacity, Enabling Interplanetary Missions and Reusability  Rocket Lab has released additional performance from its Rutherford engines, boosting the payload capacity on the Electron launch vehicle and Photon satellite bus  Long Beach, California. August 4, 2020 – Rocket Lab, a satellite manufacturer and the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, has today announced a major performance increase to the Electron launch vehicle, boosting the company’s payload lift capacity up to 300 kg (660 lbs). The increased payload mass capacity has pr ..read more

Rocket Lab to Resume Electron Launches in August Four weeks after experiencing an in-flight anomaly, Rocket Lab has identified the issue and received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to return to flight  Long Beach, California. July 31, 2020 – Rocket Lab today announced that it has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume launches this month after identifying an anomalous electrical connection as the cause of an in-flight failure on July 4, 2020. With corrective measures underway, the next Electron launch has been scheduled for August fro ..read more

Rocket Lab Mission Fails to Reach Orbit Long Beach, Calif. July 4, 2020: Following a successful lift-off, first stage burn, and stage separation, Rocket Lab experienced an anomaly during its 13th Electron mission ‘Pics Or It Didn’t Happen.’ The issue occurred approximately four minutes into the flight on July 4, 2020 and resulted in the safe loss of the vehicle. As a result, the payloads onboard Electron were not deployed to orbit. Electron remained within the predicted launch corridors and caused no harm to personnel or the launch site. Rocket Lab is working closely with the FAA to investigat ..read more

Rocket Lab Closes Acquisition of Satellite Hardware Manufacturer Sinclair Interplanetary  The acquisition solidifies Rocket Lab’s position as the leading space systems company for end-to end small satellite mission solutions LONG BEACH, Calif. 30 April 2020 – Rocket Lab, a leading space systems company, has closed the transaction to acquire Sinclair Interplanetary, a leading provider of high-quality, flight-proven satellite hardware. Rocket Lab announced the execution of the agreement to acquire Sinclair Interplanetary on March 16, 2020 pending customary closing conditions and satisfying ..read more

Electron Roll-Out Complete at Launch Complex 2 Ahead of Upcoming U.S. Space Force Mission  Scheduled for Q3 2020, the mission will be Rocket Lab’s first launch from U.S. soil  LONG BEACH, Calif. [29 April 2020] – Rocket Lab, a space technology company and the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, has rolled an Electron launch vehicle out to the Launch Complex 2 pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops, Virginia for the first time. The milestone is one of the final steps ahead of Rocket Lab’s first launch from Launch Complex 2 – a dedicated mission in partner ..read more

Rocket Lab to Launch Dedicated Mission for Japanese Space Industry Start-up Company Synspective The mission will launch the first satellite of Synspective’s StriX constellation which will provide commercially available Earth-observation data   Long Beach, California. 14 April 2020 – Rocket Lab, a space technology company and global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, has signed a deal with Japanese satellite company Synspective to launch a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite in late 2020. Synspective’s  StriX-α satellite will be launched on ..read more

Rocket Lab Successfully Completes Electron Mid-Air Recovery Test The successful test brings Rocket Lab another step closer to making Electron a reusable launch vehicle   Long Beach, California. 8 April 2020 – Rocket Lab, a space systems company and the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, has successfully completed a mid-air recovery test – a maneuver that involves snagging an Electron test stage from the sky with a helicopter. The successful test is a major step forward in Rocket Lab’s plans to reuse the first stage of its Electron launch vehicle for multiple missions. The test ..read more

COVID-19 Update: Rocket Lab has postponed the launch of its next mission in response to the COVID-19 situation. In response to the evolving COVID-19 situation, we have paused launch preparations for our next mission to protect the health and safety of Rocket Lab team members, our families, and the wider community. The mission was scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on 30 March UTC. Launch preparations have been paused, however, following the New Zealand Government’s announcement on 23 March NZDT to implement the Level 4 COVID-19 response which requires most businesses to ..read more

An update on Rocket Lab's response to COVID-19 As the COVID-19 situation has developed globally, we’ve been collaborating with our team members, customers, and health officials to ensure we’re doing all we can to protect our people and play our part in reducing the spread of the virus. The health of our team, our families, and the wider communities we’re a part of is and always will be our top priority. For this reason, all non-production Rocket Lab team members who can work from home have been doing so this past week and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This includes teams a ..read more

Rocket Lab’s Electron Launch Vehicle Certified by NASA  The certification enables NASA to launch small satellites on Electron, providing confidence for the nation’s low-cost science, research and exploration payloads Long Beach, California. 17 March 2020 – NASA has certified Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle, providing confidence for NASA’s low cost scientific, educational and technology demonstration small satellites. The certification milestone was achieved largely through the successful launch of the NASA ELaNa-19 mission which saw 13 NASA CubeSats delivered to orbit by Rocket Lab’s Elec ..read more