Rocket Lab Successfully Completes Latest Launch with Capella Space
12 August 2024 - 12:40AM
Business Wire
The mission was the latest in a multi-launch
contract with Capella Space to deploy a series of its Acadia
satellites to low Earth orbit for its Earth-imaging
constellation.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems,
today successfully launched its 52nd Electron rocket and deployed a
single satellite to low Earth orbit for Capella Space
(Capella).
The mission, named “A Sky Full of SARs” in a nod to the
synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capabilities of Capella’s
spacecraft, lifted off at 01:18 AM New Zealand Standard Time on
August 12th from Launch Complex 1, Rocket Lab’s private orbital
launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission deployed
the next of Capella’s third-generation SAR Acadia satellites to a
mid-inclination 615km low Earth orbit. In addition to the launch
service, Rocket Lab provided a custom extended fairing on Electron
to encompass the payload before Capella’s satellite was deployed to
space from a Rocket Lab-produced separation system.
The mission was the fifth launch for Capella that’s taken place
since Capella’s first mission on Electron in August 2020. That
mission, called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical”, launched from
Launch Complex 1 to deploy the very first satellite in Capella’s
SAR constellation. Subsequent successful missions include the
“Stronger Together” mission launched for Capella from Rocket Lab’s
Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, in March 2023 and the
“We Love The Nightlife” mission launched from Launch Complex 1 in
New Zealand just five months later in August 2023.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says: “Electron is a
reliable constellation builder, providing precise and dedicated
deployment to unique orbits that allows satellite operators like
Capella to iteratively build out their constellation when and where
they need to. I’m proud of the team for delivering this latest
successful mission for Capella and for successfully delivering nine
missions so far this year as Electron’s launch cadence continues to
ramp up. With many more missions scheduled in the coming weeks and
months, we look forward to delivering our busiest launch year yet
in 2024.”
The launch window for Rocket Lab’s next Electron mission will be
announced in the coming days. Most recently Rocket Lab announced a
record ten launch contract with Japanese Earth observation company
Synspective, with another two launches in addition to that contract
already booked and scheduled for launch on Electron this year.
Other satellite operators expected to launch this year under
existing multi-launch contracts with Rocket Lab include space-based
intelligence company BlackSky and French Internet-of-Things (IoT)
company Kinéis.
+ 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, a family of flight proven spacecraft, 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 192
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 family of spacecraft have 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
launch pad in Virginia. To learn more, visit
www.rocketlabusa.com.
+ Forward Looking Statements
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the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by
the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained
in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
“Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements contained in
this press release other than statements of historical fact,
including, without limitation, statements regarding our launch and
space systems operations, launch schedule and window, safe and
repeatable access to space, Neutron development, operational
expansion and business strategy are forward-looking statements. The
words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “potential,”
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forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the
factors, risks and uncertainties included in our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as such
factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), accessible on
the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section
of our website at www.rocketlabusa.com, which could cause our
actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the
forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such
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+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Murielle Baker
media@rocketlabusa.com
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