Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab has received a $489 million contract to design, build and operate 18 space vehicles on behalf of an undisclosed U.S. government customer.

As the first U.S. hypersonic weapons enter service, defense officials are searching for new ideas for high-speed propulsion and to dramatically reduce prices.

Rocket Lab’s 42nd launch of a two-stage Electron booster lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 11:05 p.m. EST Dec. 14.

Launcher manufacturer Rocket Lab is taking over the historic Middle River, Maryland, factory that Lockheed Martin is exiting.

Frank Calvelli, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, spoke at Aviation Week’s A&D Programs conference on Nov. 7.

The type, a step down in size from cubesats, is popular for experiments and tech demos.

South Africa is working to develop an indigenous launch capability within five years, with plans to develop a former military site on the Western Cape into a commercial spaceport.

Rocket Lab warned investors on Sept. 26 that it had to lower its financial expectations for the current third quarter ending Sept. 30.

Rocket Lab is investigating the failure of an Electron rocket during a mission to deliver a radar-imaging satellite into low Earth orbit for Capella Space.

Rocket Lab took another step toward reusing its Electron small-satellite launch vehicles by flying a recovered engine for the first time.

The linkup between Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and Australia’s Hypersonix Launch Systems is the latest in Hypersonix’s growth into the U.S. market.

Seven missions have been set aside for the third-place winner.

Swarming paths could be useful for deep-space scientific missions.

The first version of the Electron rocket modified for use as a booster for hypersonic and suborbital flight tests launched successfully on June 17.

The final two members of a novel cubesat quartet were launched into orbit to track developing storms on a near-hourly basis.

Like a shooting star, Virgin Orbit’s quick flare-up and steady diminution punctuates new space’s financial struggles.

Virgin Orbit will close after its assets were bought by four bankruptcy bidders including Rocket Lab and Stratolaunch.

The NASA-funded Capstone has completed its six-month primary mission in orbit around the Moon with a successful autonomous navigation demonstration.

Rocket Lab was awarded another NASA contract to launch a second multi-cubesat mission to demonstrate autonomous swarm technologies.

Turkish trainer flies; a look at two U.S. Space Force programs; Rocket Lab’s hypersonic test and Biden picks new Army chief.

The HASTE uses the same Rutherford engines as Rocket Lab's Electron, but modifies the third stage to carry larger payloads and for suborbital deployment.

A pair of 6U science sats, originally slated to piggyback a ride to Mars with NASA’s Psyche asteroid probe, will instead launch aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn.

It was Rocket Lab’s first from the Wallops Island facility, opening a new venue for the Electron rocket and marking a new beginning for the Virginia spaceport.

As a reusable booster, Neutron is designed to carry 8 tons into low Earth orbit.

Rocket Lab will provide two Photon satellites for a NASA-backed small-science mission to explore the magnetosphere of Mars.