The company signed two deals this week to launch a total of five satellites into orbit in a mission scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021. The mission will use the company’s Electron rocket, taking off from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
On Aug. 16, Rocket Lab announced it had signed a deal with Espoo, Finland-based Aurora Propulsion Technologies to launch a satellite to test its space junk removal technology. The mission is designed to demonstrate Aurora’s propulsion devices and plasma brakes, which are used to remove small satellites from orbit.
“We greatly value Rocket Lab’s ability to offer a launch in a flight window starting just three months from our originally planned launch date,” Aurora Chief Executive Roope Takala said in a statement. “The quick response Rocket Lab offered allows us to space prove our technologies this year and keep on track with our development plans.”
Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Peter Beck said in a statement that “speed to space is crucial in the development of next-generation technologies like Aurora’s, made possible by the dedicated team behind Electron that delivers rapid and responsive launch for satellite operators who want to move quickly.”
And on Aug. 18, the company announced it would launch four satellites on behalf of Alba Orbital, a Glasgow, Scotland-based manufacturer of small satellites.
The mission is meant to demonstrate the Alba satellites’ radio and nighttime Earth observation capabilities. The company previously flew six satellites on board Rocket Lab’s Running Out of Fingers flight in 2019.
