Rocket Lab picks Virginia over Florida for first US launch site

The Space Coast’s busy launch schedule has been a source of bragging rights in recent years.

But on Wednesday, a leader in an emerging class of small satellite launchers cited Cape Canaveral's frequent launches as a reason why it has chosen to fly from Virginia's Eastern Shore instead.

Rocket Lab, whose 56-foot-tall Electron rocket has launched twice from New Zealand — reaching orbit the second time — announced that after an "exhaustive" search, it will build its first U.S. pad on Wallops Island, supporting up to 12 launches a year.

“The Cape is very, very busy out there,” said Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, during a news conference at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. “That was one of the key, critical implications for choosing Wallops, was the relatively silent nature of the site.”

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Rocket Lab is part of a crowded field of startups vying to offer dedicated rides for satellites weighing up to a few hundred pounds, which now must hitch rides with much larger missions when available.

Rocket Lab is the first to launch successfully, and counts NASA, the Department of Defense and Cape Canaveral-based Moon Express among its customers. Next missions are planned in November and December from its privately operated Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula.

Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency, said the Cape would continue to compete for such business.

"Space Florida remains in dialogue with a number of small launch providers for future launches and operations at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport," said Dale Ketcham, vice president of government and external relations.

Beck didn’t rule out the possibility of establishing a Florida site down the line, for missions needing to launch closer to the equator.

“That’ll be LC-3,” he suggested.

But first, the company will invest $20 million in Launch Complex 2 and an integration facility at Wallops, creating 30 jobs. State officials including Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine did not disclose the total value of incentives given to Rocket Lab beyond a $5 million grant, calling the amount proprietary.

Space Florida and the Air Force are offering Launch Complex 20 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to Rocket Lab or others in its class, which could include competitors like Firefly Aerospace, Vector or Relativity.

Beck said an urgency to build Launch Complex 2 again favored Wallops and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport run by Virginia Space. He hopes to launch the first Electron rocket from Wallops in third quarter of next year, which he acknowledged is "an incredibly aggressive timeline."

It may be faster to build new facilities there without regular interruptions from launches by much larger SpaceX and United Launch Alliance rockets. Wallops' only other orbital launcher is Northrop Grumman's Antares, which infrequently flies cargo to the International Space Station for NASA.

Florida was stunned a decade ago when Orbital Sciences, developer of the Antares, announced it would fly from Virginia for similar reasons as Rocket Lab — namely, having the place to themselves. Wallops also hosts occasional launches of suborbital sounding rockets and flights by research balloons and aircraft.

At the Cape, Air Force leaders have been projecting nearly 50 launches a year, once Blue Origin starts flying around 2020. State leaders have suggested annual totals will top 100 in the not-too-distant-future, as small satellite launchers arrive and planned commercial mega-constellations of satellites get off the ground.

The Cape has hosted 18 launches so far this year, when more than 30 were projected. But Virginia is using its less crowded spaceport as a selling point.

"The range accessibility and capacity here versus some of the other ranges provides a lot of opportunity, especially for the smaller launch vehicles," said Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia Space. "We believe that was a key part of the offering, that we will be able to be very responsive, and have growth opportunities, not only for Rocket Lab but for others that may consider to come here as well."

Contact Dean at 321-917-4534 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FlameTrench.

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