Rapid fire launches planned at Rocket Lab's Mahia complex

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket poised for lift off before a launch scrub in June. Photo / Supplied

Rocket Lab has confirmed it will launch not one, but two rockets, in rapid succession before the end of the year - including a landmark launch for NASA.

United-States-based orbital launch provider Rocket Lab scrubbed two attempts to launch the company's "it's Business Time" mission from Rocket Lab's launch facility at Mahia Peninsula earlier this year but chief executive Peter Beck has confirmed the mission would go again in November - with another Electron rocket to launch just weeks later.

Beck said the speedy turnaround between launches was possible thanks to designing the Electron rocket for rapid manufacture, as well as Launch Complex-1's ability to process and launch vehicles quickly on the Mahia Peninsula.

"This year our team focused on scaling up production to churn out Electron rockets at a rate of one per month. Now that we're hitting that production rate, we're working to get them launched at the same frequency by the end of this year, and increasing cadence into 2019.

"It's an incredibly exciting time for the small satellite industry. Everyone on the planet will benefit from easier access to orbit in terms of innovation, research and exploration, and we're excited to be the team enabling that."

Rocket Lab stood down from an earlier "it's Business Time" launch window in June, after unusual behavior was identified in a motor controller during pre-launch operations. Following analysis, the motor controllers have been modified and undergone new qualification testing ahead of the next launch.

It's Business Time's manifest includes IRVINE01, an educational payload from the Irvine CubeSat STEM Program (ICSP), and NABEO, a drag sail technology demonstrator designed and built by High Performance Space Structure Systems GmBH and manifested as a hosted payload with support from Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation.

Spire Global also has two Lemur-2 satellites on board, and a GeoOptics Inc. satellite, built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, rounds out the mission.

After It's Business Time, the next Electron off the pad will be NASA's 19th Educational Launch of Nanosatellites mission, or ELaNa-XIX.

The launch is manifested with innovative research and development payloads from NASA and educational institutions that will conduct a wide variety of new, on-orbit science.

Applications of the CubeSats booked on the mission include research such as measuring radiation in the Van Allen belts to understand its impact on spacecraft, through to monitoring space weather.

The mission is also US space agency NASA's first ever Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) mission, constituting the smallest class of dedicated launch services used by NASA.

"It marks a significant milestone for Rocket Lab in providing such access to space for a NASA-sponsored mission of small satellites," Beck said.

The payload would also include an RSat payload from the US Naval Academy, which hopes to demonstrate capabilities for in-orbit repair of spacecraft.

The US Naval Academy says New Zealand launches offer near-polar orbit insertions which are a rare chance for USNA satellites.