The NROL-199 “Antipodean Adventure” national security mission on Thursday lifted off aboard Rocket Lab USA’s Electron launch vehicle from a launch site in New Zealand. The event marks the second launch performed by Rocket Lab for the National Reconnaissance Office, which will operate the mission in partnership with Australia’s defense department, the company said Thursday. […] More

Rocket Lab USA is set to send to space its Electron orbital launch vehicle to support the first of the two national security missions for the National Reconnaissance Office. The rocket is already on the launch pad and ready to lift off from Pad A at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on Tuesday to carry […] More

Rocket Lab USA has unveiled a program meant to provide operators of commercial and government satellites with access to the company’s launch capability and spacecraft development and support services. The Responsive Space Program will enable Rocket Lab to have direct collaboration with satellite operators on rapid call-up launch and operations as well as design, build […] More

Rocket Lab USA will hold two Electron rocket launches to send to space two national security missions for the National Reconnaissance Office under the agency’s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket contract. An Electron rocket carrying a payload for NROL-162 mission dubbed “Wise One Looks Ahead” will lift off from the Pad A of Rocket […] More

Rocket Lab has secured a contract with HawkEye 360 to send 15 radio frequency monitoring satellites to low Earth orbit using the Electron launch vehicle. Three Electron missions will be conducted from late 2022 to 2024, with the first delivering three satellites to orbit followed by two, six-spacecraft launches to expand HawkEye 360’s constellation, Rocket […] More

Arjun Kampani, an aerospace executive with approximately 20 years of industry experience, has joined Rocket Lab USA to oversee the launch service provider’s legal and regulatory affairs as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. He previously worked at Aerojet Rocketdyne, where he held similar positions focused on corporate law and governance, legal, ethics […] More

Rocket Lab will construct a complex for the rapid production, assembly, integration and launch of its next-generation, 8-ton payload class reusable rocket in Wallops Island, Virginia. The launch service provider said Monday the 250,000-square-foot Neutron Production Complex will feature capabilities for manufacturing and refurbishing the Neutron rocket and managing its liftoff, landing and on-orbit operations. […] More

Rocket Lab expects to complete a new Littleton, Colorado facility later this year for space technology production and mission operations later this year as part of expansion initiatives. The Space Systems Complex has 40,000 square feet of office, laboratory and manufacturing space and is close to an existing 15,000-square-foot company facility, Rocket Lab said Wednesday. […] More

Rocket Lab and NASA have made progress to certify autonomous software designed to boost the safety of flight termination activities with the Electron rocket, Via Satellite reported Thursday. The space agency on Dec. 17 unveiled the NASA Autonomous Flight Termination Unit‘s updated software as part of efforts to address issues associated with manual software handling. […] More

Rocket Lab plans to retrieve a rocket booster mid-air using a helicopter during a mission scheduled to take place in the first half of 2022. The company said Tuesday it will deploy a helicopter to attempt to catch a falling booster in support of its goal to market Electron as a reusable small rocket. “A […] More

NASA has selected Rocket Lab to send a miniature satellite into space for the agency’s project to test deployable composite materials and a method to power spacecraft using sunlight. The company said Wednesday it will deploy a 12-unit CubeSat with the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System as part of the Electron launch vehicle’s rideshare mission scheduled […] More

Rocket Lab will begin to produce two spacecraft for a NASA-backed Mars mission that aims to study the composition, structure and other elements of the red planet’s magnetosphere. The company said Monday a pair of Photon spacecraft will orbit Mars as the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers or ESCAPADE mission. The two Photon […] More