Rocket Lab’s second launch site is now complete, with its first mission set for next year
0Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/12/21012548/rocket-lab-wallops-virginia-launch-site-complex-2-electron
Reported today in The Verge.
Rocket Lab's second launch site is now complete, with its first mission set for next year
Small satellite launcher Rocket Lab unveiled the company's second launch site this morning - a just-finished pad built at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia. Dubbed Launch Complex 2, the location will be used along with Rocket Lab's primary launch site in New Zealand to up the frequency of the company's launches in the years ahead. That way, operators of small satellites have more options for how to get their payloads into orbit.
Since it started launching rockets in 2017, Rocket Lab has flown 10 flights so far with its Electron rocket, which is a relatively small vehicle standing at just 55 feet tall. Its purpose is to loft relatively small payloads into low orbits above Earth, capitalizing on the recent trend of satellites being made smaller and more cheaply. So far, the Electron has had nearly seamless commercial flights and launched a total of 47 satellites. And all of the flights have taken place out of Rocket Lab's launch facility on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.
Rocket Lab wants to fly a lot, though, eventually getting up to 130 launches a year. With such an ambitious goal in mind, the company decided to open a second launch site in the US to cater to more customers and allow for more launch opportunities. Rocket Lab landed on building at Wallops, as the site is already home to other active launchpads at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The infrastructure to support flights was already in place. However, Wallops is not as busy as NASA's other big spaceport, Cape Canaveral, Florida. "There's a lot going on at the Cape right now, with lots of different launch providers launching out of there," Rocket Lab CEO Pet