Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys Satellites ~500km Apart to Separate Orbits For KAIST and NASA
April 23 2024 - 9:10PM
Business Wire
Following payload deployment to two separate
orbits, Electron’s Kick Stage completed a final engine burn to
lower its altitude and speed up its reentry to help reduce space
junk
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems,
today deployed two satellites to two different orbits approximately
500km apart on its 47th Electron mission.
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Successful lift-off for Rocket Lab's 47th
Electron launch carrying two missions for KAIST and NASA. (Photo:
Business Wire)
The “Beginning Of The Swarm” (B.T.S.) mission lifted-off from
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand at 10:32 NZST on
April 24th, 2024 with payloads for the Korea Advanced Institute of
Science and Technology (KAIST) and NASA. The primary payload,
NEONSAT-1 by KAIST, was first deployed by Electron to a 520km
circular Earth orbit before Electron deployed NASA’s Advanced
Composite Solar Sail System to a higher circular orbit at
1,000km.
NEONSAT-1 will perform Earth-observation of the Korean Peninsula
for KAIST, which will then pair the satellite’s data with
artificial intelligence to monitor for natural disasters in the
region. NEONSAT-1 is the first of 11 satellites for KAIST’s planned
constellation to image the Korean Peninsula several times
daily.
The second mission deployed today was NASA’s Advanced Composite
Solar Sail System, which is a technology demonstration of new
materials that use sunlight to propel a spacecraft. Much like a
sailboat is powered by wind pushing against a sail, solar sails
employ the pressure of sunlight for propulsion to move around. This
mission plans to test how well new composite booms unfurl the sail
from the spacecraft – which is about the size of a toaster – to an
area about the size of a small apartment. Data from this mission
will be used for designing future larger-scale composite solar sail
systems for space weather early warning satellites, asteroid and
other small body reconnaissance missions, and missions to observe
the polar regions of the sun.
The capability to deploy two satellites more than 500km apart on
the same launch is enabled by Electron’s Kick Stage, a small stage
with engine relight capability to enable last-mile delivery. After
deploying NEONSAT-1, Electron’s Kick Stage completed multiple
in-space burns of its Curie engine to raise its apogee and
circularize its orbit before deploying the Advanced Composite Solar
Sail System spacecraft. The Kick Stage then completed a fourth and
final engine light to perform a deorbit maneuver that returned the
stage closer to Earth to speed up its eventual deorbit, helping to
reduce long term orbital debris.
Today’s successful mission was Rocket Lab’s fifth launch of
2024, continuing Electron’s streak as the United States’
second-most frequently launched rocket annually.
Details of Rocket Lab’s next Electron mission will be announced
shortly.
+ 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
180+ 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 launch pad in Virginia. To learn more, visit
www.rocketlabusa.com.
+ 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, 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
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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+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Murielle Baker
media@rocketlabusa.com
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