NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia was announced this week as the launch site for upcoming missions that will use Rocket Lab's next-generation Neutron rocket.
The location will be used to prepare and conduct Neutron missions.
Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, commented on Monday's announcement, saying that Virginia makes perfect sense as a significant site for Neutron.
NASA was delighted that Rocket Lab chose Wallops for its new launch facility.
The design of the two-stage Neutron rocket was unveiled by Rocket Lab in March 2021. The first-stage booster of the Neutron rocket is designed to return to Earth and make an upright landing so that it can be used for multiple missions. It will help Rocket Lab to cut costs and offer competitive prices to companies that want to deploy satellites in space. According to Rocket Lab, Neutron will be able to do interplanetary missions and even crewed spaceflight.
The rocket will be 40 meters tall and be able to carry up to 8,000 kilograms into low-Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket is 70 meters tall and can carry up to 22,800 kilograms.
The less powerful Electron rocket has been used in 24 launches by Rocket Lab, which is based in New Zealand and the U.S. In the last two years, fourteen of them took place. Its Neutron rocket should see it dramatically expand its operations, though missions mostly involve satellite deployment for a range of private customers. Two years ago, Wallops was granted permission to use as an additional launch site for Rocket Lab's missions.
Since the first one in 1945, Wallops has hosted more than 16,000 space launches.
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