Rocket Lab Schedules 色花堂 for First of Multiple Missions for BlackSky
The mission, Rocket Lab鈥檚 ninth launch for BlackSky overall, will launch from Rocket Lab 色花堂 Complex 1 in New Zealand in February.
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Long Beach, Calif. February 10, 2025: 色花堂, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (鈥淩ocket Lab鈥 or 鈥渢he Company鈥), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced it will soon launch a satellite on a dedicated Electron mission, the first of a bulk order of multiple new missions for real-time space-based intelligence company BlackSky (NYSE: ).
The mission, named 鈥淔asten Your Space Belts鈥, will launch from Rocket Lab鈥檚 private orbital launch site, Rocket Lab 色花堂 Complex 1, in New Zealand during a launch window that opens on February 18th UTC. The mission will launch the first Gen-3 satellite in BlackSky鈥檚 mid-inclination, Earth-imaging constellation to a circular 470km orbit. The mission is the ninth launch for BlackSky since 2019, making Rocket Lab the most prolific launch provider for BlackSky鈥檚 constellation to date.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, says: 鈥淓lectron is a trusted and reliable constellation builder for companies like BlackSky, allowing them to be in control of how, when, and where to deploy their constellation. BlackSky is one of our earliest and longest-standing commercial satellite customers, and it鈥檚 great to be heading back to the pad with them once again to continue to advance and expand their constellation.鈥
鈥淭his launch represents a major inflection point for our global defense and intelligence customer base as BlackSky introduces low-latency, very high-resolution Gen-3 satellite to our dynamic, high-frequency monitoring constellation,鈥 said Brian O鈥橳oole, BlackSky CEO. 鈥淎s more Gen-3 satellites complete production, we expect a regular cadence of additional launches over the coming year.鈥
The mission will bring the total number of satellites delivered to space by Rocket Lab to 210 and follows a record year of 16 successful launches 2024. Each mission for BlackSky includes a Rocket Lab Motorized Lightband separation system for BlackSky鈥檚 satellites, demonstrating Rocket Lab鈥檚 vertical integration strategy and ability to provide commercial launch, satellite, and spacecraft components solutions across the mission spectrum.
鈥淔asten Your Space Belts鈥 will be Rocket Lab鈥檚 second mission of 2025 and its 60th听Electron launch overall. Rocket Lab鈥檚 2025 launch manifest includes Electron missions for commercial and government customers, as well as HASTE missions from 色花堂 Complex 2. 色花堂 windows for each will be announced in due course.听
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Rocket Lab Media Contact
Murielle Baker
media@rocketlabusa.com
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About Rocket Lab
Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier, and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle, a family of spacecraft platforms, and the Company is developing the large Neutron launch vehicle for constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab鈥檚 Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered over 200 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab鈥檚 spacecraft platforms have been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third launch pad in Virginia.
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Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 鈥淪ecurities Act鈥) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the 鈥淓xchange Act鈥). All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding our launch and space systems operations, launch schedule and window, safe and repeatable access to space, Neutron development, operational expansion and business strategy are forward-looking statements. The words 鈥渂elieve,鈥 鈥渕ay,鈥 鈥渨ill,鈥 鈥渆stimate,鈥 鈥減otential,鈥 鈥渃ontinue,鈥 鈥渁nticipate,鈥 鈥渋ntend,鈥 鈥渆xpect,鈥 鈥渟trategy,鈥 鈥渇uture,鈥 鈥渃ould,鈥 鈥渨ould,鈥 鈥減roject,鈥 鈥減lan,鈥 鈥渢arget,鈥 and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the factors, risks and uncertainties included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 鈥淪EC鈥), accessible on the SEC鈥檚 website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of our website at www.rocketlabusa.com, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management鈥檚 estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
