Rocket Lab Successfully Completes Latest Launch with Capella Space

The mission was the latest in a multi-launch contract with Capella Space to deploy a series of its Acadia satellites to low Earth orbit for its Earth-imaging constellation.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today successfully launched its 52^nd Electron rocket and deployed a single satellite to low Earth orbit for Capella Space (Capella).

The mission, named “A Sky Full of SARs” in a nod to the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capabilities of Capella’s spacecraft, lifted off at 01:18 AM New Zealand Standard Time on August 12^th from Launch Complex 1, Rocket Lab’s private orbital launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission deployed the next of Capella’s third-generation SAR Acadia satellites to a mid-inclination 615km low Earth orbit. In addition to the launch service, Rocket Lab provided a custom extended fairing on Electron to encompass the payload before Capella’s satellite was deployed to space from a Rocket Lab-produced separation system.

The mission was the fifth launch for Capella that’s taken place since Capella’s first mission on Electron in August 2020. That mission, called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical”, launched from Launch Complex 1 to deploy the very first satellite in Capella’s SAR constellation. Subsequent successful missions include the “Stronger Together” mission launched for Capella from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, in March 2023 and the “We Love The Nightlife” mission launched from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand just five months later in August 2023.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says: “Electron is a reliable constellation builder, providing precise and dedicated deployment to unique orbits that allows satellite operators like Capella to iteratively build out their constellation when and where they need to. I’m proud of the team for delivering this latest successful mission for Capella and for successfully delivering nine missions so far this year as Electron’s launch cadence continues to ramp up. With many more missions scheduled in the coming weeks and months, we look forward to delivering our busiest launch year yet in 2024.”

The launch window for Rocket Lab’s next Electron mission will be announced in the coming days. Most recently Rocket Lab announced a record ten launch contract with Japanese Earth observation company Synspective, with another two launches in addition to that contract already booked and scheduled for launch on Electron this year. Other satellite operators expected to launch this year under existing multi-launch contracts with Rocket Lab include space-based intelligence company BlackSky and French Internet-of-Things (IoT) company Kinéis.

+ 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, a family of flight proven spacecraft, 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 192 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 family of spacecraft have 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

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