Rocket Lab Introduces Suborbital Testbed Rocket, Selected for Hypersonic Test Flights
April 17 2023 - 8:10AM
Business Wire
Rocket Lab’s new HASTE launch vehicle, derived
from the Electron rocket, will provide high-cadence suborbital
flight test opportunities to advance hypersonic system technology
development
Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today
formally introduced the HASTE rocket (Hypersonic Accelerator
Suborbital Test Electron), a suborbital testbed launch vehicle
derived from Rocket Lab’s heritage Electron rocket. HASTE provides
reliable, high-cadence flight test opportunities needed to advance
hypersonic system technology development, with the inaugural launch
scheduled to take place in the first half of 2023 for a
confidential customer.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005343/en/
Rocket Lab's HASTE rocket for suborbital
missions is derived from the Electron launch vehicle, seen here
launching from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in March
2023. Image credit: Brady Kenniston
“Rocket Lab has a strong track record of delivering tailored and
reliable space capabilities for the civil space and national
security communities across launch and space systems and HASTE is
an extension of this,” says Brian Rogers, Senior Director – Global
Launch Services. “Hypersonic and suborbital test capabilities are
key priorities for the nation, yet the DoD’s ability to test these
systems has been limited. With HASTE, we’ve taken a proven vehicle
in Electron and tailored it specifically to deliver highly capable,
frequent, and cost-effective hypersonic and suborbital test
opportunities from our existing launch site in Virginia.
Importantly, HASTE is not the promise of a future capability – it’s
a completed launch vehicle ready for flight now, with the first one
currently preparing for launch at our Integration and Control
Facility in Wallops, Virginia, in the coming months.”
HASTE is evolved from Rocket Lab’s flagship Electron launch
vehicle, which has been providing reliable access to orbit since
2018 and has successfully deployed satellites for NASA (National
Aeronautics and Space Administration), the NRO (National
Reconnaissance Office), DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency) and the U.S. Space Force. HASTE employs the same innovative
carbon composite structure and 3D printed Rutherford engines as
Electron but has a modified Kick Stage for hypersonic payload
deployment, a larger payload capacity of up to 700 kg / 1,540 lbs,
and options for tailored fairings to accommodate larger
payloads.
Rocket Lab has been selected by Dynetics to provide hypersonic
test launch capability under the Multiservice Advanced Capability
Test Bed (MACH-TB) project awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center
(NSWC) Crane division on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Separately, Rocket Lab has also been selected by the Defense
Innovation Unit (DIU) to prototype hypersonic launch capability on
HASTE under the agency’s hypersonic and high-cadence testing
capabilities (HyCAT) program, which aims to increase the cadence of
hypersonic testing at a decreased cost of traditional flight tests.
Under the initiative, Rocket Lab will explore the integration of
scramjet-powered payloads, including the DART AE (Additive
Engineering) vehicle developed by Australian company Hypersonix
Launch Systems. This continues DIU and Rocket Lab’s partnership,
which started under the Space Systems Command Rapid Agile Launch
Initiative (SSC-RALI) effort in 2018, providing rapid and agile
launch capabilities to the DoD. Due to the prototype’s success, any
DoD organization can utilize DIU’s Solutions Catalog to procure
launch services from Rocket Lab.
Rocket Lab was also selected by Missile Defense Agency Targets
and Countermeasures (MDA/TC) to conduct a now-completed study to
evaluate a variety of payloads on HASTE, setting the stage for
future test flight opportunities. These program awards highlight
the versatility of HASTE in providing tailorable trajectories and
aerodynamic test regimes.
HASTE will be primarily operated under Rocket Lab National
Security (RLNS), the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary created to
serve the unique needs of the U.S. defense and intelligence
community and its allies. Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 within the
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in
Virginia is the launch site for HASTE.
+ 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 and the Photon satellite platform and is
developing the Neutron 13-ton payload class launch vehicle. 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, USA. 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.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005343/en/
+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Morgan Bailey
media@rocketlabusa.com
Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024