Sir Peter Beck’s New Zealand-based rocket company has gone ahead with its $500 million (€461.1m) cash-raising exercise. Rocket Lab has already confirmed an offer to buy German-based laser connectivity specialist Mynaric for $75 million. But the company says it has eyes on other acquisitions.
Rocket Lab has four launches planned over the next few weeks. The first is for today (March 14th), another on March 17th, and two others later this year.
Helpfully, aerospace giant Airbus has awarded Rocket Lab an order to provide high efficiency, space grade solar panels for 100 OneWeb Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites for Eutelsat’s OneWeb satellites which are designed to provide high-speed, low-latency global internet access to remote and underserved areas.
Rocket Lab will provide 200 solar panels, inclusive of carbon composite panel substrates, solar cells, and photovoltaic assemblies. These panels will be manufactured at Rocket Lab’s 150,000 square-foot space solar production facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Brad Clevenger, Vice President of Space Systems at Rocket Lab, commented, “We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with Airbus by providing our world-leading space solar panels to power Eutelsat’s next-gen OneWeb constellation. This collaboration will see 100 more satellites equipped with Rocket Lab technology, ensuring dependable, cutting-edge solutions that advance global connectivity.”
