The majority of Rocket Lab's activities have been done in New Zealand. While the company has been public about its plans to expand to both hemispheres, executives released a slew of updates on Wednesday detailing their goal to make the U.S. home to even more launches, testing and manufacturing.
During Rocket Lab's Investor Day, the company shared the news with the public. The Rocket Lab shared all the updates in a thread concurrent with the event. There are a few things that you can take away.
Before the Investor Day event even began, Rocket Lab kicked off with news that it will be testing the Neutron rocket's engines at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. An option to extend the lease for another 10 years was included in the lease agreement. A capital investment from the Mississippi Development Authority was secured by the company.
It isn't much of a surprise that this one is this one. A number of companies have conducted engine tests at Stennis in the past. It is sensible for a private company to secure space at the center since NASA has tons of infrastructure and test stands in place. The capital investment will be used to build out the test complex.
A lot of investment and activity will be coming to Wallops Island. Wallops was chosen as the location for the first launch site and manufacturing and operations facilities by the company. Wallops is home to Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 2, which is used for rocket launches.
The company hasn't said when an electron might leave the Virginia site. The first launch from LC-2 will take place in December of 2022, followed by a second mission at the beginning of the new year.
There was a long-awaited update on Neutron. The general outline of the previous rendering is the same as the new one, though it looks slightly different. The company included "Interplanetary" on its list of mission profiles for the vehicle.
It has been known for a while that Neutron will have a fairing that doesn't separate from the rocket during launch, but opens, which is called the "Hungry Hippo" for this reason. The fairing will open in two parts.
The company has made progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The company is going ahead with its plans for the first Neutron launch.
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