The Latest Private Space Company Goes Into Business

A new commercial space satellite launching company has just launched its first satellites. You might not guess from where...

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So who launches commercial rockets?

If an idiot woke you up with that question you would probably reply: “SpaceX”. Especially if you're a South African. Because... Elon Musk. And, oh yeah, the Falcon 9 rocket.

If you're European you first answer might be: “the European Space Agency”, SpaceX's main competitor, with their Ariane 5 rockets. Russians would without hesitation say: “Soyuz”, meaning, of course, the Soyuz-2 rocket operated by Starsem. The really geeky ones would venture the Proton-M rocket, built by the less-familiar Khrunichev.

Indians? Space Research Organisation with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV. Italians? Perhaps Vega, from the Italian Space Agency.

Notice something? There are no Southern Hemisphere countries involved. “WHERE ARE OUR ROCKETS?!!”, is the cry heard throughout the Hemisphere: from paw-paw plantations in Kenya to sheep stations in the Outback, and from miners deep in the Chilean copper mines.

But all that's changed

It's happened in the most unlikely place: New Zealand. That's right, the Land of the Long White Cloud. The home of sheep and rugby players.

Just this last weekend, on Sunday 11th 2018, a company in New Zealand launched 7 commercial satellites into space from New Zealand territory.

The company's name is Rocket Lab (great name), headed up a Kiwi by the name of Peter Beck (an even greater name). And here he is:

Peter Beck image source

Electron

The launch vehicle (rocket) he is proudly standing next to is named Electron. It is designed to launch small satellites, making up a payload of 150 to 225 kg, up to 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit. This is suitable for CubeSats, and small satellites. There is a huge demand for this service, but it has been prohibitively expensive for many customers. In specialising in small payloads, Rocket Lab is able to use a relatively inexpensive vehicle, costing $6 million per launch. Their goal is to do 16 launches in 2019.

“The world is waking up to the new normal”, said Peter Beck in a news release. “With the Electron launch vehicle, rapid and reliable access to space is now a reality for small satellites. We’re thrilled to be leading the small satellite launch industry by reaching orbit a second time and deploying more payloads.”

Rocket Lab also promises to be a good space citizen and clean up after itself. It uses a drag sail technology which decelerates the launch vehicle before re-entering the atmosphere to safely and cleanly burn it up, leaving no space debris.

If you like watching launch videos as much as I do, you gonna love this one.

For one, it's really cute to hear New Zealand accents doing the countdown and other control commentaries. The control team are all, of course, wearing black. In fact here is a picture of them warming up before the launch:

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Enjoy the video.

Well done, New Zealand. You've done yourself and your hemisphere proud.

Also posted on Weku, @tim-beck, 2018-11-13