Rocket Lab USA Inc. scored two new deals this month for launches for two government agencies.
In the first, the Long Beach space vehicle launch and manufacturing firm said that it had received a subcontractor agreement with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. in San Diego.
And in the second, the company said Jan. 9 a mutual agreement with NASA has been reached to include Neutron launch services to the agency through Rocket Lab’s existing VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare launch services) contract.
Rocket Lab will join the Kratos-led team of subcontractors that will provide systems engineering, assembly, integration, and test, mission planning and execution and launch services for the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0 program.
Rocket Lab will share in a five-year, $1.45 billion contract awarded to Kratos this month if all options are exercised, according to a release from the company on Jan. 7.
“The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Test Resource Management Center established MACH-TB to support the office’s National Hypersonic Initiative 2.0 by creating an affordable flight test bed to rapidly increase hypersonic flight test capacity,” the companies said in a release. “MACH-TB 2.0 will provide an affordable bridge between hypersonic ground tests and system level flight tests.”
Rocket Lab has already served the MACH-TB program, delivering multiple successful hypersonic test launches with the company’s HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) rocket from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 2 in Wallops, Virginia. HASTE is a suborbital variant of Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle, according to its release.
Rocket Lab’s Vice President Global Launch Services, Brian Rogers, said that it was thrilled to be part of the Kratos-led team for the next iteration of the MACH-TB program.
“(We are) ready to serve the U.S. Department of Defense with even more high-cadence hypersonic technology with our HASTE launch vehicle,” Rogers said in a statement. “Our demonstrated ability to date to deliver successful HASTE launches that test these new technologies is testament to our dedication in advancing hypersonic innovation for the nation alongside our government and industry partners.”
Other team members of the project are Stratolaunch in Mojave, Leidos in Reston, Virginia, and Corvid Technologies Inc. in Mooresville, North Carolina.
Rocket Lab’s newest rocket
Neutron is Rocket Lab’s newest rocket and allows the opportunity for Rocket Lab to continue broadening access to space to deliver multiple missions across a range of orbits, including CubeSats, Class D missions, and other payloads, according to a release from Jan. 9.
With its small orbital launch vehicle Electron already on-ramped for NASA’s VADR missions, Rocket Lab has previously demonstrated time-sensitive back-to-back launches within two weeks for the VADR PREFIRE missions in late May and early June of last year and completed a similar fast turnaround of two launches in May 2023 for the VADR TROPICS missions, according to a release from the company.
Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Sir Peter Beck said the company has been a lpartner for NASA missions with Electron, and it is proud to have been selected to expand on this with Neutron.
“Neutron brings choice and value to the launch industry and is the ideal rocket to support NASA’s goals with VADR to provide new opportunities for science and technology payloads through commercial best practice,” Beck said in a statement.
Significant progress continues to be made on the rocket’s launch site on Wallops Island, Virginia, with the site’s completion expected in the coming months. Neutron is scheduled for its debut launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 3 in Virginia in the middle part of the year, Rocket Lab said.
