The “We Will Never Desert You” mission will be
Rocket Lab’s second launch for Capella Space in less than four
weeks.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today
announced it has scheduled its next Electron launch during a window
that opens September 19, 2023 NZST/UTC.
The ‘We Will Never Desert You’ mission is scheduled to launch
from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula
for American space tech company Capella Space (Capella), a leading
provider of commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery.
‘We Will Never Desert You’ will launch the second of Capella’s
third-generation SAR Acadia satellites to low Earth orbit. This
will be Rocket Lab’s third launch for Capella in 2023, and second
launch in a multi-launch contract of four missions. Capella’s
highest quality, high resolution SAR imagery penetrates all weather
conditions and captures clear imagery 24/7, day and night, anywhere
on Earth, delivered through a fully-automated ordering and delivery
platform. Capella’s existing SAR capabilities includes long-dwell
imaging and extended duty-cycle – which results in more images
collected per orbit than any other SAR systems. Acadia will augment
Capella’s existing constellation with increased bandwidth and
power, faster downlink speeds, and reduced latency.
As Capella’s sole launch provider in 2023 to build out the
company’s Earth-imaging constellation, Rocket Lab’s most recent
launch, ‘We Love The Nightlife,’ successfully deployed Capella’s
first Acadia satellite to space just weeks ago on August 24, 2023.
An earlier mission for Capella this year, ‘Stronger Together,’
successfully delivered two satellites to space for the company from
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 in Wallops, Virginia, in March
2023.
Electron’s precise payload deployment record and ability to meet
wide-ranging mission requirements enables operators like Capella to
increase their constellation’s orbital diversity while at the same
time grow quickly to meet customer demand. Rocket Lab is also
supplying its own separation systems for each Capella mission that
further maintains the Company’s vertical integration strategy.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said: “As the only
commercial U.S. small launch vehicle providing regular and reliable
dedicated access to orbit, Electron provides a unique service to
satellite operators like Capella. When you’re a dedicated launch
customer you can fly where you want and when you want to, and
launching these two missions back-to-back for Capella demonstrates
the value that brings to commercial constellation operators.”
‘We Will Never Desert You’ launch details:
- Launch window: NET September 19, 2023.
- Launch location: Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia.
- Launch Vehicle: Electron.
- Satellite Operator: Capella Space.
- Payload: SAR Earth-imaging Acadia satellite.
- Orbital Destination: 640km circular Earth orbit.
+ 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 171
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 pad
in Virginia. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.
+ FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain certain “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts,
contained in this press release, including statements regarding our
expectations of financial results for the third quarter of 2023,
strategy, future operations, future financial position, projected
costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management, are
forward-looking statements. Words such as, but not limited to,
“anticipate,” “aim,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,”
“design,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,”
“possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,”
“suggest,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and similar
expressions or phrases, or the negative of those expressions or
phrases, are intended to identify forward-looking statements,
although not all forward-looking statements contain these
identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on
Rocket Lab’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future
developments and their potential effects. These forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (many of which
are beyond Rocket Lab’s control), or other assumptions that may
cause actual results or performance to be materially different from
those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially
from the forward-looking statements in this release, including
risks related to delays and disruptions in expansion efforts; our
dependence on a limited number of customers; the harsh and
unpredictable environment of space in which our products operate
which could adversely affect our launch vehicle and spacecraft;
increased congestion from the proliferation of low Earth orbit
constellations which could materially increase the risk of
potential collision with space debris or another spacecraft and
limit or impair our launch flexibility and/or access to our own
orbital slots; increased competition in our industry due in part to
rapid technological development and decreasing costs; technological
change in our industry which we may not be able to keep up with or
which may render our services uncompetitive; average selling price
trends; general economic uncertainty and turbulence which could
impact our customers’ ability to pay what we are owed; failure of
our launch vehicles, spacecraft and components to operate as
intended either due to our error in design in production or through
no fault of our own; launch schedule disruptions; supply chain
disruptions, product delays or failures; design and engineering
flaws; launch failures; natural disasters and epidemics or
pandemics; any inability to effectively integrate recently acquired
assets; changes in governmental regulations including with respect
to trade and export restrictions, or in the status of our
regulatory approvals or applications; or other events that force us
to cancel or reschedule launches, including customer contractual
rescheduling and termination rights; risks that acquisitions may
not be completed on the anticipated time frame or at all or do not
achieve the anticipated benefits and results; and the other risks
detailed from time to time in Rocket Lab’s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including under the
heading “Risk Factors” in Rocket Lab’s Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, which was filed with
the SEC on March 7, 2023, and elsewhere. There can be no assurance
that the future developments affecting Rocket Lab will be those
that we have anticipated. Except as required by law, Rocket Lab is
not undertaking any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230907096391/en/
+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Murielle Baker
media@rocketlabusa.com
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