Rocket Lab's First US Electron Launch Rescheduled for January 2023

The first US Rocket Lab Electron Electron launch has been rescheduled to January 2023 due to weather and paperwork.

The move of the planned launch window from December 2022 to early 2023 was driven by weather and the additional time that NASA at Wallops and the FAA need to complete essential regulatory documentation for launch. The delay in documentation left only two days in the originally scheduled 14-day launch window and both of those final remaining days were unsuitable for launch due to bad weather. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility is now closed for launch activity for the remainder of the December due to holiday airspace restrictions, preventing further launch attempts in 2022. Now scheduled for January, the mission will still take place from Virginia.

This new launch window will result in the mission and its related revenue being recognized in Rocket Lab’s fiscal Q1 2023, versus in fiscal Q4 2022 as was previously anticipated at the time Rocket Lab provided Q4 2022 financial guidance in conjunction with its Q3 2022 preliminary earnings release on November 9, 2022. As a result, Rocket Lab is updating its expected Q4 2022 revenue outlook from the range of $51 million to $54 million previously provided on November 9, 2022, to $46 million – $47 million.

The First US Rocket Lab Electron Launch will Deploy Three Satellites

The “Virginia Is For Launch Lovers” mission will deploy three satellites for radio frequency geospatial analytics provider HawkEye 360. The mission is the first of three Electron launches for HawkEye 360 in a contract that will see Rocket Lab deliver 15 satellites to low Earth orbit between by the end of 2024. These missions will grow HawkEye 360’s constellation of radio frequency monitoring satellites, enabling the company to better deliver precise geolocation of radio frequency emissions anywhere in the world.

While “Virginia Is For Launch Lovers” will be Electron’s first launch from the U.S., Rocket Lab has already conducted 32 Electron missions from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, delivering 152 satellites to orbit for customers including NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office, DARPA, the U.S. Space Force and a range of commercial constellation operators. Electron is already the most frequently launched small orbital rocket globally and now with the capacity of the pads at Launch Complex 1 and 2 combined, Rocket Lab has more than 130 Electron launch opportunities every year.

(Source: Rocket Lab news release. Images from file)