Rocket Lab USA Inc. has been busy of late with several launches completed and more planned for the future.

The Long Beach launch provider successfully deployed a satellite for a Japanese customer in March, followed by a launch of its Electron rocket later that month for the deployment of a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.

In April, the company launched satellites for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and NASA. 

And later this month, Rocket Lab will prepare to send up two Electron launches to deploy NASA’s technology to study the polar ice caps.

The launch of “Owl Night Long,” by the company on March 13 from its pad in New Zealand was done for Synspective Inc., a Tokyo-based satellite developer.

The Synspective StriX-3 satellite is the fourth one launched by Rocket Lab and was added to a constellation, or a group of satellites, all of which were launched by the aerospace provider.

Just eight days later, on March 21, the company launched a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. It was the fifth satellite launched for the agency since 2020.

“It’s an honor to continue delivering dedicated access to orbit for national security missions,” said Peter Beck, founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab, in a statement at the time of the launch.

Satellites at different orbits

Last month, Rocket Lab sent up two satellites at different orbits.

The first one was for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

NEONSAT-1 will perform Earth-observation of the Korean Peninsula for the institute, which will then pair the satellite’s data with artificial intelligence to monitor for natural disasters in the region. It was put into an orbit 323 miles above the Earth.

The second was for NASA. It was a demo mission of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System to show the feasibility of using sails powered by the sun to propel a spacecraft. It was deployed to an orbit 621 miles above the Earth.

The capability to deploy two satellites more than 300 miles apart on the same launch is enabled by Electron’s Kick Stage, a small stage with engine relight capability to enable last-mile delivery. 

The next Electron launch from New Zealand – named “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” – will take place no earlier than May 22. The second mission for NASA – named “PREFIRE And Ice” – will take place within three weeks of the successful deployment of the first.

Data from the mission, which consists of two small satellites with a mission length of 10 months, will improve understanding of how the Arctic and Antarctic help to regulate Earth’s climate, the mechanisms of polar ice loss and related issues of sea level rise and sea ice loss, according to the company.

“It’s these types of missions where Electron really thrives as the leading launch provider for dedicated small satellite missions,” Beck said in a statement. “We have an excellent track record of delivering NASA’s payloads to exactly where they need to go and when they need to, and we’re looking forward to adding to that tally further with these next back-to-back launches.”

The missions will be Rocket Lab’s 48th and 49th Electron launches overall and its sixth and seventh launches so far this year.