Rocket Lab looks at life on Earth
Rocket Lab’s plans to drop satellite payloads into low-Earth orbit every two weeks in 2019 will help to solve society’s biggest problems, an aerospace expert says.
The payloads will look at Planet Earth and track patterns about populations and the environment, said Jim Hefkey, director of the Auckland Programme for Space Systems at the University of Auckland.
Such information could help to solve poverty and pollution, he said, reducing the fear that people would eventually need to shift planets.
‘‘This is where life is generally going to get better. This is the planet we have got and we have got to do our best to maintain it.’’
New Zealand-born aerospace company Rocket Lab successfully launched its second test Electron rocket from the Ma¯ hia Peninsula on Sunday, and placed three known payloads into orbit.
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck hinted yesterday that the company placed a fourth payload into orbit, but would not say who it belonged to or what its purpose was.
Beck said the other payloads, which will take images of Earth and track weather for United States companies, would help to gather information about deforestation and environmental change.
‘‘These are very important spacecraft. Space is the ultimate high ground; it is really the only domain where you get to view the earth as a whole entity and get a unique perspective of the planet.
‘‘It opens up a whole lot of opportunity for new discoveries to be made and to build infrastructure that has not been able to be built in space before.’’
Nasa, Planet Labs, Spire Global, Moon Express and Spaceflight have already booked payloads to board Rocket Lab rockets.
Sunday’s revolutionary launch proves Rocket Lab is well on track to achieve Beck’s mission, which is to democratise space by significantly reducing the cost barrier to access it commercially.
Rocket Lab builds Electron rockets for about $6 million to $10m, which is 10 times less than the cost to buy a rocket outright from other international companies, Beck said.
‘‘Rocket Lab was founded on the principle of opening access to space to better understand our planet and improve life on it. [On Sunday] we took a significant step towards that.’’
Beck said another five Electron rockets were already being built, with plans to launch one every month, mostly from Ma¯hia, this year. By next year, it planned to launch rockets every two weeks.
‘‘That is more than any country on this planet. It is really about production from here on in.’’
Rocket Lab is regulated by the New Zealand Government to launch 120 rockets a year. It plans to launch a maximum of 50 a year.
The company has two launch sites in the US – one in Florida and the other in Alaska.
Beck said sustainability was top of mind for Rocket Lab as it ramped up operations here.
The satellite payloads stayed in orbit for five to seven years before they re-entered the atmosphere and burnt up, disintegrating themselves. ‘‘We have said from day one that this is all about frequency and doing this sustainably.’’
Beck said Rocket Lab’s only limitation was a lack of staff. It was recruiting for 60 trades and engineer roles in New Zealand.
‘‘What we really need right now is many, many more people. Most of the roles we need right are not super unique rocket scientist roles.’’
"What we really need right now is many, many more people. Most of the roles we need right are not super unique rocket scientist roles." Founder Peter Beck, above, on the company's recruitment drive