Skip to main content

Rocket Lab pushes its first U.S. rocket launch to 2023

Rocket Lab’s debut mission from U.S. soil has been pushed to next year after strong winds forced the team to call off the latest launch attempt earlier this week.

The mission had already been delayed several times due to administrative issues with the Federal Aviation Administration. Poor weather conditions also played a part. The latest delay was put down to “strong upper-level winds” at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility about 100 miles southeast of Washington, D.C.

“Continued strong upper-level winds tomorrow have ruled out the final day of the launch window for our first mission from NASA Wallops,” Rocket Lab said in a tweet on Monday, adding that a new window “is now scheduled to open in January.”

When it finally gets to lift off, Rocket Lab’s workhorse Electron rocket will deploy six satellites for radio frequency geospatial analytics provider HawkEye 360.

The flight will also see the first test of NASA’s Autonomous Flight Termination Unit (NAFTU) software, an automated system designed to ensure public safety during launch operations that will be made available to all U.S. launch providers.

Rocket Lab’s first U.S. mission, called Virginia Is For Launch Lovers, follows more than 30 satellite-deployment flights from Rocket Lab’s main launch facility in New Zealand since 2018.

Opening its first U.S. launch facility marks a major expansion of Rocket Lab’s business as the company seeks out new government and commercial customers while moving toward a greater frequency of flights.

Rocket Lab will also use the Virginia facility for the first launch of its much more powerful, next-generation Neutron rocket, possibly in 2024. Similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the Neutron will have a reusable first stage that can land back on the ground upright shortly after deploying the second stage to orbit.

Such a system will help Rocket Lab to cut costs and offer competitive prices to customers who want to use its satellite-deployment services. The new rocket will also be capable of interplanetary missions and even crewed spaceflight.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
U.S. spacecraft lands on the moon for the first time in over 50 years
Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander heads to the moon.

The U.S. company Intuitive Machines made a historic landing on the moon today. Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander, launched earlier this month, touched down on the moon's surface at 6:23 p.m. ET, marking the U.S.'s first lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the first landing on the moon by a commercial entity.

The Odysseus lander is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which provides contracts to companies for lunar services, and it carries a number of NASA scientific instruments. It has landed on the moon's south pole, which is an area of particular scientific interest as it hosts water ice and is the region where NASA plans to land astronauts under its Artemis program.

Read more
Five rocket launches to look out for in 2024
SpaceX's Starship rocket lifting off in November 2023.

This year promises a bunch of launches featuring new rockets from a range of operators. Let's take a look at five notable rocket launches that are sure to make headlines over the coming months:
ULA’s Vulcan Centaur

The first of these takes place on Monday, January 8, with United Launch Alliance conducting the maiden launch of its brand-new Vulcan Centaur rocket. The 202-feet-tall (61.6-meter) vehicle will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a mission to become the first to land a privately built lander on the moon.

Read more
How to watch the first U.S. commercial moon mission launch tonight
A ULA Vulcan on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Jan. 8 LIVE Broadcast: Vulcan Cert-1

A new Vulcan Centaur rocket operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) is on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center as final preparations are being made for what’s set to be a historic mission.

Read more