CameronD, could you perhaps give a few more details of how far along things are? I ask because I've been following this pretty closely, (I'm a Kiwi, so I'm REALLY hoping this one succeeds), and news has been rather scarce. Peter Beck said a few months ago that the launch site would be finished by May, but I haven't heard anything since, (not surprising if they're not quite on schedule, new projects almost never are), although one news report said the launch site is finished, and they're now in a "commissioning" phase, whatever that means. If you don't know anything else, that's fine, it just seems you know a bit more than the press does right now, and I'm impatient
It's pretty quiet around here right now, so here's a couple of small update I could find. Normally I probably wouldn't go to the effort of posting this, but hey its something right now First up, here's a newer picture of the launch site and the progress they're making. It's still a month old, so they'll be further along than this, AND its only a small part of the picture, but hey it's something:https://www.facebook.com/MahiaBoatingFishingClub/photos/a.371577199580860.84227.310142042391043/1070362969702276/?type=3&theater
Well.. I'm sure it's safe to say that ordinary folks on both sides of the Tasman are, like yourself, wishing them all the very best in their endeavours and hoping they succeed.
Here are those images for posterity.
3 dedicated Electron launches for Planet Doves cubesats announced by Rocketlab today. Starting in 2017
Planet and Rocket Lab have signed a Launch Services Agreement for at least three dedicated launches on Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle.The agreement will see Electron used to expand and replenish Planet’s existing on-orbit fleet of Dove satellites. Planet will utilize the full capacity of Electron for each of the launches, which are scheduled to begin in 2017.
Large manifest secured by RL before their Maiden flight:1 launch for NASA VCLS3 for MoonExpress + 2 options 12 for Spire 3 for Planet They are clearly the leading emerging microlauncher players
Spire hasn't flown anything to space yet.
Quote from: Mike Jones on 07/12/2016 08:00 pmLarge manifest secured by RL before their Maiden flight:1 launch for NASA VCLS3 for MoonExpress + 2 options 12 for Spire 3 for Planet They are clearly the leading emerging microlauncher playersSpire has also signed a contract for launching some of its satellites on Electron launches, although those will be manifested as secondary payloads.
Quote from: Galactic Penguin SST on 07/12/2016 11:15 pmSpire hasn't flown anything to space yet. Spire has launched Lemurs several times now and supposedly has more going on the oft-delayed Sherpa.
What worries me about all this publicity is that RL have all these customers signed up but have yet to demonstrate even a single test flight of the rocket: could they end up a satellite-payload version of XCOR?What if the first flight is a failure? The second? Third?? There are a zillion things that could go wrong. Do their customers all then run off to other providers with demonstrated runs on the board?? I do remember it took SpaceX three goes to get single successful launch and, although I hope they do, I'm not convinced people will put the same (or more) faith in the guys at Rocketlab.
Agreed, although they probably don't have a customer like DARPA did to SpaceX at that time. Perhaps the NASA one will be the first "operational" flight?