- Payload successfully deployed to orbit for Capella Space
- Successful ocean splashdown of Electron’s first stage
- First launch of a previously flown Rutherford engine
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today
successfully launched a dedicated Electron mission for Capella
Space (Capella). The mission demonstrated several significant
milestones for Rocket Lab’s reusability program, including an ocean
splashdown of the Electron rocket’s first stage and the successful
flight of a previously flown Rutherford engine. The mission was
also Rocket Lab’s 40th Electron launch since the Company began
launches in 2017, further cementing Electron’s position as the
leading commercial small launch vehicle globally.
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Rocket Lab's Electron rocket lifts off
the pad at Launch Complex 1 for the Company's 40th launch. (Photo:
Business Wire)
The ‘We Love The Nightlife’ mission lifted off on August 24th at
11:45 am NZST from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s
Mahia Peninsula, deploying Capella’s next-generation Acadia
satellite for its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation to a
640km circular low Earth orbit.
As a recovery mission, Electron’s first stage returned to Earth
under a parachute after launch and splashed down in the Pacific
Ocean several hundred kilometers down range from Launch Complex 1.
Rocket Lab’s marine recovery vessel will soon extract the stage
from the ocean and transport it back to Rocket Lab’s production
complex for analysis and testing to inform future recovery efforts.
In addition to recovering the booster, Rocket Lab launched a
pre-flown 3D printed Rutherford engine for the first time. The
engine previously flew on the first stage of the ‘There and Back
Again’ mission, launched in May 2022. The engine performed on par
with new Rutherford engines, completing a successful first stage
burn.
The mission follows on from Rocket Lab’s two previous launches
for Capella, including the “Stronger Together” mission launched in
March 2023 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 in Virginia, and the “I
Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical” mission in August 2020 from Launch
Complex 1 in New Zealand, which deployed the first satellite in
Capella’s SAR constellation. ‘We Love the Nightlife’ was the first
of four new dedicated launches on Electron for Capella, announced
in February 2023, to deploy Capella’s next-generation Acadia
satellites.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says: “We’ve been a
trusted launch partner to Capella since 2020 and we’re delighted to
deliver mission success once again. Electron has played a crucial
role in helping constellation operators like Capella deploy their
spacecraft on time and on target, and we look forward to continuing
building out Capella’s constellation with more dedicated launches
this year. Congratulations also to our team on delivering 40
Electron launches, completing another booster recovery, and proving
Rutherford engines can be flown multiple times. One mission is an
enormous achievement in this industry, but 40 is a rare achievement
and testament to the relentless drive, innovation and dedication of
the Rocket Lab team.”
Capella’s existing satellite constellation delivers the highest
quality and resolution SAR imagery commercially available, with the
ability to penetrate all weather conditions and capture clear
imagery 24-7, day and night, delivered through a fully automated
ordering and delivery platform. The next-generation Acadia
satellites include several enhancements, including increased
bandwidth and power and faster downlink speeds. When combined with
Capella’s existing long-dwell imaging capability and extended
duty-cycle – which results in more images collected per orbit than
other SAR systems – Acadia will continue to set the benchmark
within the SAR industry.
ABOUT Rocket Lab
Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with
an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable
launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and
on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more
affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach,
California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small
orbital launch vehicle, the Photon satellite platform and the
Company is developing the large Neutron launch vehicle for
constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January
2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second
most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 171
satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations,
enabling operations in national security, scientific research,
space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and
communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft platform has been
selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as
the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three
launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a
private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third pad
in Virginia. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain certain “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts,
contained in this press release, including statements regarding our
expectations of financial results for the third quarter of 2023,
strategy, future operations, future financial position, projected
costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management, are
forward-looking statements. Words such as, but not limited to,
“anticipate,” “aim,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,”
“design,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,”
“possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,”
“suggest,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and similar
expressions or phrases, or the negative of those expressions or
phrases, are intended to identify forward-looking statements,
although not all forward-looking statements contain these
identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on
Rocket Lab’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future
developments and their potential effects. These forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (many of which
are beyond Rocket Lab’s control), or other assumptions that may
cause actual results or performance to be materially different from
those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially
from the forward-looking statements in this release, including
risks related to delays and disruptions in expansion efforts; our
dependence on a limited number of customers; the harsh and
unpredictable environment of space in which our products operate
which could adversely affect our launch vehicle and spacecraft;
increased congestion from the proliferation of low Earth orbit
constellations which could materially increase the risk of
potential collision with space debris or another spacecraft and
limit or impair our launch flexibility and/or access to our own
orbital slots; increased competition in our industry due in part to
rapid technological development and decreasing costs; technological
change in our industry which we may not be able to keep up with or
which may render our services uncompetitive; average selling price
trends; general economic uncertainty and turbulence which could
impact our customers’ ability to pay what we are owed; failure of
our launch vehicles, spacecraft and components to operate as
intended either due to our error in design in production or through
no fault of our own; launch schedule disruptions; supply chain
disruptions, product delays or failures; design and engineering
flaws; launch failures; natural disasters and epidemics or
pandemics; any inability to effectively integrate recently acquired
assets; changes in governmental regulations including with respect
to trade and export restrictions, or in the status of our
regulatory approvals or applications; or other events that force us
to cancel or reschedule launches, including customer contractual
rescheduling and termination rights; risks that acquisitions may
not be completed on the anticipated time frame or at all or do not
achieve the anticipated benefits and results; and the other risks
detailed from time to time in Rocket Lab’s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including under the
heading “Risk Factors” in Rocket Lab’s Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, which was filed with
the SEC on March 7, 2023, and elsewhere. There can be no assurance
that the future developments affecting Rocket Lab will be those
that we have anticipated. Except as required by law, Rocket Lab is
not undertaking any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
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Rocket Lab Media Contact Morgan Bailey
media@rocketlabusa.com
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