RocketLab - Commercial Launch Company trying for Reuse

[Grendal]

Two NASA contracts awarded:

Rocket Lab to launch remaining NASA TROPICS satellites - SpaceNews

NASA has selected Rocket Lab to launch the remaining four cubesats of a constellation to monitor tropical weather systems.

spacenews.com

 

[Grendal]

NASA and Rocket Lab ready for first Electron launch from Wallops - SpaceNews

After more than two years of delays, NASA and Rocket Lab are finally ready to conduct the first Electron launch from Wallops Island in Virginia on Dec. 16.

spacenews.com

Wallops officials look for growth in launch activity with Rocket Lab

The first Electron launch from Wallops will mark what spaceport officials hope is the start of a new era of increased launch activity there.

spacenews.com

 

[Grendal]

Rocket Lab cautiously optimistic about Neutron’s future in national security launch - SpaceNews

Rocket Lab sees the U.S. military as a potential customer of the company’s future medium-lift rocket, Neutron

spacenews.com

 

[Grendal]

Rocket Lab ‘very happy’ with Space Force plan to procure launch services

Rocket Lab ‘very happy’ with Space Force plan to procure launch services

spacenews.com

 

[Grendal]

Roacketlab buys up some of VO's assets.

Virgin Orbit shuts down after bankruptcy sales

Bankrupt rocket company Virgin Orbit sold its assets and equipment to a trio of aerospace companies in an auction.

www.cnbc.com

 

[HVM]

Sub-orbital hypersonic test flight (military test):

Launch Roundup: ULA launches Delta IV Heavy; SpaceX launches three missions - NASASpaceFlight.com

In what will be a quiet week for orbital launches, Rocket Lab launched its first…

www.nasaspaceflight.com

 

[ggr]

It's funny, they treat it like a sub-orbital launch is something special and different, which is weird, because every orbital launch is sub-orbital until it isn't. Not like Bezos' and Branson's "Hey, we got to space! Just can't stay there."

 

[Grendal]

Another report on this "secret" launch:

Rocket Lab launches first suborbital version of Electron

Operating under a veil of secrecy pierced only by the ignition of the rocket’s engines, Rocket Lab launched the first suborbital Electron June 17.

spacenews.com

 

[Electroman]

Another report on this "secret" launch:

Rocket Lab launches first suborbital version of Electron

Operating under a veil of secrecy pierced only by the ignition of the rocket’s engines, Rocket Lab launched the first suborbital Electron June 17.

spacenews.com

Two words: Missile Ttsting.

Or more precisely: ICBM testing.

 

[scaesare]

It's funny, they treat it like a sub-orbital launch is something special and different, which is weird, because every orbital launch is sub-orbital until it isn't. Not like Bezos' and Branson's "Hey, we got to space! Just can't stay there."

But... but... just because it may have had the energy/ability to go orbital it doesn't MAAAAA-TER!

 

[Grendal]

NorthStar pivots to Rocket Lab following Virgin Orbit’s collapse

Canada’s NorthStar Earth and Space has signed a multi-launch deal with Rocket Lab after Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy shattered plans to start deploying its space situational awareness (SSA) satellites this summer.

spacenews.com

 

[Grendal]

Rocket Lab announces next launch, will attempt first stage recovery

Rocket Lab is expected to launch seven satellites from Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.

www.teslarati.com

 

[Grendal]

Successful recovery! We'll see how it comes out. Rocketlab intends to reuse this booster.

 

[Grendal]

 

[Grendal]

Rocket Lab results match Wall Street estimates, company adds contracts for 10 launches

Rocket Lab reported second-quarter results on Tuesday that largely met Wall Street's expectations.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Grendal]

BlackSky buys five Electron launches

BlackSky, one of Rocket Lab’s biggest launch customers, has bought an additional five Electron launches for its next-generation imaging satellites.

spacenews.com

 

[Grendal]

Rocket Lab sees Virgin Orbit facility as “scaling enabler” for Neutron

Rocket Lab says a Virgin Orbit facility it acquired at a bankruptcy auction in May will allow the company to scale up production of its Neutron rocket.

spacenews.com

 

[Grendal]

Japanese SAR company iQPS to launch with Rocket Lab after Virgin Orbit bankruptcy

A Japanese firm developing a constellation of SAR satellites is the latest to turn to Rocket Lab after the bankruptcy of rival launch company Virgin Orbit.

spacenews.com

 

[ecarfan]

Rocketlab has just successfully re-used for the first time one of its Rutherford engines.

Eric Berger reports: The re-flight of a Rutherford engine demonstrates rocket reuse is here to stay
He concludes:

Nearly every commercial development program for medium- and heavy-lift rockets in the world today has a component of reusability, whether for the first stage engines, in the case of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket, or for the entire vehicle itself, with Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket and its Jarvis upper stage.

While he had emphasized the Falcon 9 in the article, of course, it’s odd that his conclusion did not even mention Starship which appears to me to be much farther along in development than New Glenn.

 

[Grendal]