The mission will be the third of five dedicated
Electron launches booked by the French Internet-of-Things
constellation operator
Rocket Lab USA, Inc (“Rocket Lab” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:
RKLB), a leading launch provider and space systems company, today
announced it has scheduled the next Electron launch for Kinéis, a
global Internet-of-Things (IoT) connectivity provider.
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the full release here:
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Rocket Lab prepares to launch an Electron
rocket for French satellite constellation operator Kinéis (Photo:
Business Wire)
The “Ice AIS Baby” mission is scheduled to launch during a
14-day window that opens on November 23rd NZDT. Lift-off will take
place from Rocket Lab’s private orbital launch site, Launch Complex
1, in New Zealand. The mission is the third of five dedicated
Electron launches booked by Kinéis in a multi-launch contract that
will see Rocket Lab deploy an entire constellation of 25 IoT
satellites. The first two missions were successfully launched by
Electron in June and September 2024.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, says: “We’ve already
successfully launched two missions for Kinéis and looking forward
to making it three later this month. Electron has put control in
the hands of small satellite constellation operators like Kinéis,
giving them the ability to control launch schedule and orbits to
deploy and manage their satellites precisely the way they want to.
This is what dedicated launch is all about and we’re proud to
operate the only small rocket delivering this consistently and
reliably.”
Kinéis CEO, Alexandre Tisserant, says: “Kinéis continues to
deploy its 25-satellite constellation on schedule. Efforts are
being maintained by the technical teams who are operating our first
10 nanosatellites in flight and will be managing the positioning of
the 5 new ones. This delicate operation is supported by the
precision injection of our satellites into their positions by
Rocket Lab's Electron launcher. In addition to IoT, we're delighted
to announce the launch of a new service, satellite AIS, dedicated
to the global maritime domain, a highly reliable sovereign offer,
available in 2025. Ready for launch!”
The mission is one of several Electron launches scheduled for
lift-off before the end of the year, with 12 Electron launches
already completed successfully in 2024, making this Rocket Lab’s
busiest launch year to date.
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
190+ 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.
About Kinéis:
Created in 2018, Kinéis is a satellite operator and global
connectivity provider. It inherited 40 years of expertise in the
Argos system, founded by CNES (French space agency) and
historically operated by CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites).
Its mission is to develop reliable technology that provides easy
access to useful satellite data. To make life easier for
professionals and individuals and encourage them to use its
products and services, Kinéis locates and connects objects wherever
they are on the planet. Thanks to its technological innovation
capabilities, Kinéis forges links between New Space and IoT and
connects hundreds of customers with satellite IoT. In Q2 2021,
Kinéis won two projects funded by the European program Eurostars:
Forestens (forest fire prevention) and Catset (a decision support
toolset eartag for extensive cattle farming).
Thanks to its constellation of 25 nanosatellites, Kinéis can
connect any object from anywhere in the world and transmit useful
data from these objects to users in near real time. This data is a
decision-making tool that can be used to optimize activities while
reducing risks, thanks to three essential functions: tracking,
monitoring and alerting.
Kinéis' space connectivity applications are used in a number of
fields that represent major challenges for mankind, its activities
and its environment today: natural risk prevention (detection of
forest fires, floods, pollution, etc.), monitoring of
infrastructures and energy networks (detection of anomalies,
predictive maintenance, etc.), transport and logistics monitoring,
agriculture, traceability of wild and farmed animals, and
monitoring of commercial and leisure maritime activities.
The Kinéis constellation also integrates the AIS (Automatic
Identification System), a maritime automatic identification system
for ships operating on VHF (Very High Frequency) radio frequencies,
which enables ships and surveillance systems to know the identity,
position, direction and status of ships at sea.
Kinéis' satellite-based AIS (S-AIS) is a high-performance system
(requiring no ground infrastructure) that complements terrestrial
AIS, enabling ships to be monitored worldwide, even in
international waters not accessible by terrestrial AIS.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
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,”
“continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,”
“could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “target,” and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements,
though not all forward-looking statements use these words or
expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees,
but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
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, 2022, 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
forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of
the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim
any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views
to change.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241112096940/en/
+ Images & Video Content
www.flickr.com/photos/rocketlab
+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Morgan Connaughton
media@rocketlabusa.com
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