Rocket Lab USA launched its small-satellite Electron rocket, getting the company back on track after it aborted a previous attempt during the final countdown.
Long Beach, California-based Rocket Lab is second only to SpaceX among American companies in number of missions this year and is developing a larger rocket that will more directly challenge Elon Musk’s firm.
The Electron took off from Rocket Lab’s facility in New Zealand on Saturday (Sep 21), carrying five communications satellites made by Kineis, a startup backed by French space agency CNES.
The launch followed the scrapping of an attempt on Thursday, when the rocket’s flight computer aborted the takeoff after the countdown went to zero because of a ground systems issue.
The scrubbed launch came on the one-year anniversary of Rocket Lab losing an Electron rocket and its payload shortly after takeoff. The 2023 failure led to the company grounding its fleet for three months as it investigated the accident.
Even with that temporary shutdown, Rocket Lab launched 10 times in 2023, putting it second in frequency to SpaceX among US providers.
Founded in New Zealand by chief executive Peter Beck, Rocket Lab has conducted 11 successful orbital missions this year. That still leaves the company far behind SpaceX, which has made about 90.
Rocket Lab’s Nasdaq-traded shares are up 35 per cent this year.
The company this month hired a former Rivian Automotive Inc. executive, Frank Klein, as its new chief operations officer in a bet on the role expertise in car manufacturing will play in the space industry. BLOOMBERG
