Rocket Lab Launches New Constellation-Class Star Tracker
New class of star trackerdesigned to support high-volume constellations based on high heritage technology.
Long Beach, California. April 13, 2023 – Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced a new class of star tracker, the ST-16HV, is now available for commercial use, expanding the Company’s Space Systems catalogue of products for the global satellite market.
The new ST-16HV star tracker is an attitude determination sensor based on Rocket Lab’s existing high-performance ST-16RT2 star tracker that has been evolved for mass manufacturing. The change results in a more affordable star tracker that is mass producible to meet the short lead time needs of both commercial and government satellite constellation projects.
By using the same electronics and electrical interface and much of the same mechanical design as the heritage star tracker, the ST-16HV can be used in its place as a responsive small satellite solution, especially for satellites and constellations in low Earth orbit.
“Rocket Lab’s Space Systems Division has made tremendous strides in developing new technology and products and the new ST-16HV star tracker is the latest to join a long list of reliable and trusted space components,” said Brad Clevenger, Vice President, Space Systems. “This new mass-produced star tracker will be a game changer in fulfilling the growing demand from satellite constellation customers and will be made at the Sinclair by Rocket Lab facility where we already mass produce reaction wheels.”
The ST-16HV star tracker is the latest new satellite component announced in 2023, after the Frontier-X satellite radio and constellation-class 12Nms reaction wheel assembly were released in February.
The ST-16HV star tracker joins the Company’s exiting heritage space systems components including reaction wheels, separation systems, radios, flight software, ground software, and solar power solutions. Rocket Lab has more than 100 star trackers on orbit, including on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Mandrake 1 and Mandrake 2 satellites and Rocket Lab’s in-house designed and built Lunar Photon spacecraft which supported NASA’s Artemis program that delivered the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) CubeSat to orbit the Moon.
For information about Rocket Lab’s Space Systems products, visit rocketlabusa.com.
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+ 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, the Photon satellite platform 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 159 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 Photon spacecraft platform has 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
This press release may contain certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Rocket Lab’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (many of which are beyond Rocket Lab’s control), or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including risks related to the global COVID-19 pandemic; risks related to government restrictions and lock-downs in New Zealand and other countries in which we operate that could delay or suspend our operations; delays and disruptions in expansion efforts; our dependence on a limited number of customers; the harsh and unpredictable environment of space in which our products operate which could adversely affect our launch vehicle and spacecraft; increased congestion from the proliferation of low Earth orbit constellations which could materially increase the risk of potential collision with space debris or another spacecraft and limit or impair our launch flexibility and/or access to our own orbital slots; increased competition in our industry due in part to rapid technological development and decreasing costs; technological change in our industry which we may not be able to keep up with or which may render our services uncompetitive; average selling price trends; failure of our launch vehicles, spacecraft and components to operate as intended either due to our error in design in production or through no fault of our own; launch schedule disruptions; supply chain disruptions, product delays or failures; design and engineering flaws; launch failures; natural disasters and epidemics or pandemics; changes in governmental regulations including with respect to trade and export restrictions, or in the status of our regulatory approvals or applications; or other events that force us to cancel or reschedule launches, including customer contractual rescheduling and termination rights; risks that acquisitions may not be completed on the anticipated time frame or at all or do not achieve the anticipated benefits and results; and the other risks detailed from time to time in Rocket Lab’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including under the heading “Risk Factors” in Rocket Lab’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, which was filed with the SEC on March 7, 2023, and elsewhere (including that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may also exacerbate the risks discussed therein). There can be no assurance that the future developments affecting Rocket Lab will be those that we have anticipated. Except as required by law, Rocket Lab is not undertaking any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
