Rocket Lab Launches New Constellation-Class Star Tracker
April 13 2023 - 4:15PM
Business Wire
New class of star tracker designed to support
high-volume constellations based on high heritage technology.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems,
today announced a new class of star tracker, the ST-16HV, is now
available for commercial use, expanding the Company’s Space Systems
catalogue of products for the global satellite market.
The new ST-16HV star tracker is an attitude determination sensor
based on Rocket Lab’s existing high-performance ST-16RT2 star
tracker that has been evolved for mass manufacturing. The change
results in a more affordable star tracker that is mass producible
to meet the short lead time needs of both commercial and government
satellite constellation projects.
By using the same electronics and electrical interface and much
of the same mechanical design as the heritage star tracker, the
ST-16HV can be used in its place as a responsive small satellite
solution, especially for satellites and constellations in low Earth
orbit.
“Rocket Lab’s Space Systems Division has made tremendous strides
in developing new technology and products and the new ST-16HV star
tracker is the latest to join a long list of reliable and trusted
space components,” said Brad Clevenger, Vice President, Space
Systems. “This new mass-produced star tracker will be a game
changer in fulfilling the growing demand from satellite
constellation customers and will be made at the Sinclair by Rocket
Lab facility where we already mass produce reaction wheels.”
The ST-16HV star tracker is the latest new satellite component
announced in 2023, after the Frontier-X satellite radio and
constellation-class 12Nms reaction wheel assembly were released in
February.
The ST-16HV star tracker joins the Company’s existing heritage
space systems components including reaction wheels, separation
systems, radios, flight software, ground software, and solar power
solutions. Rocket Lab has more than 100 star trackers on orbit,
including on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s
(DARPA) Mandrake 1 and Mandrake 2 satellites and Rocket Lab’s
in-house designed and built Lunar Photon spacecraft which supported
NASA’s Artemis program that delivered the Cislunar Autonomous
Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment
(CAPSTONE) CubeSat to orbit the Moon.
For information about Rocket Lab’s Space Systems products, visit
rocketlabusa.com.
+ 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 159
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 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. 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 press release, including risks
related to the global COVID-19 pandemic; risks related to
government restrictions and lock-downs in New Zealand and other
countries in which we operate that could delay or suspend our
operations; 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; 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; 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 (including that
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may also exacerbate the risks
discussed therein). 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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+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Morgan Bailey
media@rocketlabusa.com
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