Rocket Lab’s second launch pad

Rocket Lab has started constructing a second launch pad at its complex on the Ma¯hia Peninsular near Gisborne as it works towards a goal of launching rockets on a weekly basis.

The new launch pad and tower is a replica of its existing pad and should be completed late next year, but won’t require any new buildings.

The company, founded by Kiwi Peter Beck, has a licence to launch up to 120 rockets a year from Ma¯hia, but at the moment is still building up to its nearer-term goal of launching once a month.

Last week, Rocket Lab finished work on a new launch complex in Virginia in the United States, which it expects to use less frequently for customers that need to launch from the US.

Its first launch from Virginia will be a mission to launch a single satellite for the US Air Force and is scheduled for the second quarter of next year.

US Air Force Colonel Robert Bongiovi said its satellite, STP-27RM, would ‘‘test new capabilities that we will need in the future’’.

Rocket Lab said the second launch pad at Ma¯hia would create more than 15 jobs over the next 12 to 18 months. It is being built on its existing leasehold land on Onenui Station.

Space Minister Phil Twyford issued more detailed guidelines last week that would apply when the Government considered whether to approve satellite payloads launched from New Zealand.

The guidelines state that space activities conducted from New Zealand should ‘‘reflect New Zealand’s values and interests’’ and ‘‘preserve the benefits of space for future generations through adherence to sustainable practices’’.