‘Fastest to 100 launches’ – Rocket Lab celebrates ‘Golden milestone’
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Sir Peter Beck’s Rocket Lab has done it, hitting its target of 100 launches faster than any other commercial firm. Only Elon Musk’s SpaceX came close (see graphic below).
The 100th mission, dubbed “The Mountain God Rises,” lifted off at 6:30pm on Saturday from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s
Mahia Peninsula.
The mission deployed the YAMATSUMI-II Earth-imaging satellite for the Japanese company iQPS.
Rocket Lab is marking its 100th launch with a gold-painted rocket as fans organise viewing parties to witness the slice of history.
Parts of the 18m-tall Electron rocket had been painted gold for the mission, on an otherwise black rocket, and the company has described it as a “golden milestone”.
Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Sir Peter Beck joked, “Initially the team thought I was not being serious” when he requested the custom paint job.
It has taken the company less than a decade to reach a century of launches, and its Electron rocket was first launched from Mahia in 2017.
Rocket Lab’s 99 launches to date include its sub-orbital Haste rocket launches, which are effectively a slight variant of its Electron rocket.
Rocket Lab also has a launch site on Wallops Island in the United States, and is building another in Alaska, but will mark the milestone at its most-used launch site in Mahia.
“SPB” (Sir Peter Beck), who earlier told Ryan Bridge TODAY that he has now plans to ever board a rocket himself – being too aware of the safety risks – piloted his own chopper over the launchpad in the build-up to the 100th flight.
Post-launch, Beck said, “Few rockets reach 100 launches in their total operational lifetime. That record pace comes down to the relentless dedication of the Rocket Lab team, and I want to congratulate everyone behind Electron. This is the team that pioneered 3D-printed rocket engines, built the world’s first carbon-composite orbital rocket, launched back-to-back from two hemispheres, and shattered responsive space records along the way, putting Electron in a league of its own.”
Beck also noted his firm’s diversification beyond rockets into space systems, which account for much of its multi-billion-dollar forward order book, including more than 55 spacecraft in development and production. Two that have already been built and launched, “Blue and ”Gold” slingshotted around Earth last weekend to accelerate their journey to Mars.
“Mahia is very unique … it is one of only two commercial pads in the world,” Beck told Ryan Bridge TODAY on Friday.
MORE: Meet the Kiwi running Rocket Lab’s mission to Mars
“All the other pads around the world are government installations, so it is very, very special.
“Mahia still does the vast bulk of all the [Electron] launches, and will continue to.”
Mahia will not be used for Rocket Lab’s yet-to-launch Neutron rocket, which will stand 43m tall and launch from the US from next year.
Unsurprisingly, Rocket Lab launches have garnered a huge following over the years.
Watch parties were organised for Saturday’s event, including at the official viewing area in nearby Nūhaka, at the end of Blucks Pit Rd, which organisers anticipated would be larger than Rocket Lab’s Capstone moon mission in 2022, which attracted almost 100 spectators to the viewing spot.
“It’s a massive milestone. It’s a change of colour – instead of being black and silver [or black and white], it is now black and gold – and there is a lot of hype around it,” Doug Menzies, who runs a popular Rocket Lab Facebook fan page, said.
He said “seeing something made in New Zealand go to space” was always amazing to witness.
“It’s phenomenal.”
The launch will be visible across much of the East Coast, although the later the launch happens in the evening, the better the viewing.
Rocket Lab marketing and communications vice-president Morgan Connaughton said it was an exciting achievement.
“It is extra special for the team, it is extra special for our customers, and it is extra special internationally in the space industry because Electron is the fastest commercially developed rocket to make it to 100 launches.”
She said the company had come a long way since the first Electron launch in 2017, and now employed about 3500 people around the world, including about 1000 in New Zealand.
Technically, Rocket Lab did use “sounding rockets” in its early years, which were small test rockets, but it has recorded 99 official launches with its Electron rocket, Connaughton said.
Rocket Lab’s mission success, for rockets reaching orbit, is about 96%.
“Out of 99 launches so far, four did not make it to mission success, but that’s if you include the first launch, which is ultimately a test launch, and really no one usually expects those to be successful.”
Connaughton said that while this was a big moment for the company, Rocket Lab was involved in many other exciting projects.
“The same week we are doing our 100th launch, we have two satellites on their way to Mars for Nasa; we are building Neutron; in this last quarter alone I think we signed US$400 million ($721.1m) worth of spacecraft contracts; we are acquiring Iridium, which is a massive satellite connectivity and communications company, so there really is not a dull day.
“Genuinely, it does feel a bit like every single day there is something monumental happening, that at any other company would be kind of the biggest event of the year.”
Rocket Lab, which was founded by Beck in Auckland in 2006, has its headquarters in California but employs more than 1000 in New Zealand between its assembly plant and mission control in Auckland, its fabrication plant at Warkworth bought from SailGP and Mahia.
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