Orbiting Mars is the next goal for Rocket Lab USA’s deep dive into outer space.
Two twin satellites made by the Long Beach-based company were sent to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for preparations for a launch provisionally set for October.
While many people are fascinated by Elon Musk’s long-shot goal to send humans to Mars, the upcoming mission involving Rocket Lab is pure science.
The small satellites, built for a mission led by University of California, Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory and NASA, will measure two important features surrounding the Red Planet.
The first is the magnetosphere, or the magnetized area of space around the planet. The second feature is called solar wind, a flow of particles that comes off the sun.
Long Beach Complex
Rocket Lab’s (Nasdaq: RKLB) spacecraft, known as Blue and Gold respectively, are the key parts of a mission called ESCAPADE. They are slated to be launched on the New Glenn rocket made by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. NASA has said the launch is scheduled for October.
Blue Origin is targeting “no earlier than Sunday, Oct. 13” for the launch of New Glenn-1 from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, NASA said on Aug. 26.
“If ESCAPADE launches this fall, the spacecraft will arrive at Mars 48 hours apart in September 2025 and begin their one-year prime science mission in April 2026,” industry website Space News reported. NASA said they will be in a “highly elliptical orbit.”
Moon, Mars
“We’ve already been to the Moon for NASA, so we’re excited to build on that and send Rocket Lab technology deeper into the solar system, this time to the Red Planet,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck.
Rocket Lab, a launch services and spacecraft company, was based in Huntington Beach before relocating to Long Beach in 2020.
A Rocket Lab spokesperson said the company’s “rapidly growing satellite manufacturing capabilities were a key driver behind our move to Long Beach.”
The company has more than 500 employees in Long Beach with more on the way, the spokesperson told the Business Journal on Aug. 22.
Rocket Lab on Aug. 8 reported second quarter revenue soared 71% to a record $106 million.
“This 71% year-on-year revenue increase demonstrates the strong and growing demand for our launch services and space systems products and, importantly, our team’s ability to execute against it,” Beck said in a statement.
Since its second quarter report, shares have risen about 38% to $6.32 a piece and a $3.1 billion market cap.
The company’s Electron rocket is the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered more than 190 satellites to orbit for commercial and government partners, including NASA, U.S. Air Force, the Defense Department and the intelligence-gathering National Reconnaissance Office.
Rocket Lab is one of several companies that have put Southern California satellite makers on the map.
Terran Orbital, due to be acquired by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), builds satellites for commercial and defense use in Irvine. ICEYE US, the local subsidiary of a Finnish company, also builds satellites in Irvine.
