Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company and launch service provider, specializing in small satellite launches with its Electron rocket, which has launched 63 times as of April 2025. They are also developing the larger Neutron rocket for constellation deployment. Rocket Lab provides complete space solutions including satellite design and manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management, serving commercial, civil, and defense markets, with major partners including NASA and the US Space Force. Key products include the Electron and Neutron rockets, Photon satellite bus, and various satellite components.
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The multi-launch contract with Rocket Lab to deliver 15 satellites will grow HawkEye 360’s constellation of radio frequency monitoring satellites to improve geolocation of radio frequency emissions worldwide.
Rocket Lab plans to begin launching its Electron small rocket from Wallops Flight Facility and plans to launch Neutron from the same site.
Rocket Lab would need to develop a heavier Neutron variant to cover all NSSL payload requirements, which the company estimates would require roughly $1,000,000,000 in investment.
Rocket Lab is developing the medium-lift reusable rocket Neutron on an aggressive schedule for a 2024 debut.
NASA Wallops and the Federal Aviation Administration required additional time to complete regulatory documentation, which compressed the available December 2022 launch window for Rocket Lab’s mission.
Virginia Space will support Rocket Lab launches from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
Rocket Lab originally scheduled the Virginia Is For Launch Lovers mission for December 2022 but adjusted the launch to January 2023 after unfavorable weather and compressed regulatory scheduling reduced the December launch window.
Rocket Lab scheduled the launch window for its first Electron mission from U.S. soil to open on 2023-01-23 with back-up dates extending through early 2023-02-01.
The mission is the first of three Electron launches for HawkEye 360 under a contract in which Rocket Lab will deliver 15 satellites to low Earth orbit by the end of 2024.
Rocket Lab’s new Electron launch pad at Wallops, Virginia provides a domestic capability suited for launching mid-latitude satellite clusters for customers such as HawkEye 360.
Rocket Lab prepared for an Electron lift-off on 2022-12-07 that was moved to 2022-12-18 due to incomplete FAA and NASA range paperwork.
Rocket Lab previously conducted 32 Electron missions from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand that delivered 152 satellites to orbit.
Rocket Lab has the capacity to launch from Launch Complex 1 and Launch Complex 2 combined and has more than 130 Electron launch opportunities every year.
This mission will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.
StriX-1 was launched by Rocket Lab’s Electron from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula launch site on 2022-09-16 (JST).
StriX-1 was launched by Rocket Lab’s Electron from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula launch site on 2022-09-16 (JST).
2022-12-20 was the last opportunity for Rocket Lab to launch before holiday airspace restrictions went into effect.
Before this delay, Rocket Lab planned four to six Electron launches in 2023 from Wallops.
Spaceflight Inc. worked with launch vehicle providers SpaceX, Rocket Lab, PSLV/NSIL, and Astra in 2022.
Rocket Lab postponed a planned 2022-12-16 launch by two days to allow NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration to complete range-driven documentation.