Startup plans to launch small satellites

NORFOLK, VA. >> A Californiabased startup said Wednesday that it will rocket small satellites into orbit from Virginia, an endeavor that reflects increasing demand from companies and governments alike to monitor ships, crops and the weather from space.

Rocket Lab said it will build its launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on the Eastern Shore. It’s located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility where unmanned cargo missions already are dispatched to the International Space Station.

Rocket Lab, which recently built its first launch pad in New Zealand, is setting up in Virginia at a time of unprecedented growth in the use of smaller and relatively inexpensive satellites.

As small as a loaf of bread, the devices circle the earth for a few years before burning up in the atmosphere. Atlanta-based consulting firm SpaceWorks predicted in January that up to 2,600 of these will need to be launched into orbit over the next five years.

The industry is attracting venture capitalists, while firms in China and companies such as Virgin have built launch systems dedicated to the smaller devices. Dozens more are under development.

Rocket Lab has sent up two rockets so far, humorously calling those missions “It’s a test” and “Still testing.” The second rocket successfully reached orbit in January.

Rocket Lab’s next commercial mission, known as “It’s Business Time,” is scheduled to lift off from New Zealand in November. Launches from Virginia are set to begin as early as summer 2019.

“We’re not focused on the next flight, we’re focused on the next 100 flights,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck, a New Zealander, said at a news conference in Virginia.

Small satellites have often hitched rides on rockets carrying bigger satellites into orbit or with supplies to the space station. But more firms are offering small satellites their own launches, providing more control over their schedules and the orbits to which they’re delivered.

Headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, Rocket Lab plans to keep costs low by using lightweight, expendable rockets with 3D-printed engines. It’s a different plan than some other space companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which uses larger rockets to carry bigger payloads.