Rocket Lab Is Expanding Its Space Systems Complex
Rocket Lab has been innovating and expanding at impressive speeds over the past few years. This hard work has helped the company continue to grow and launch Electron consistently. In addition, it will help Rocket Lab begin developing, manufacturing, and testing upcoming rockets such as Neutron. Most recently, the company decided to add on to a property in Colorado.
On February 2nd, 2022, Rocket Lab announced they were expanding a Colorado footprint to support a new space systems complex. This is happening at the ASI facility which is a company acquired by Rocket Lab in 2021. This complex will help facilitate team growth and more as they work to increase the staff and general employees throughout the company.
With so many ambitious goals and plans for the future, Rocket Lab knows they need a bigger and better team. This is a big part of the reason for the complex expansion. In order to keep Electron launching, and development going for Neutron, they need all hands on deck. Here I will go more in-depth into the decision to expand the facility, and what benefits it provides.
Space Systems Complex Expansion
On February 2nd of this year, Rocket Lab announced they were going to expand a current Colorado footprint with a new space systems complex. The current footprint they mentioned is a facility for ASI. This is a company that was acquired by Rocket Lab in 2021 that stands for Advanced Solutions Inc. Rocket Lab announced it will open a new space systems complex in Littleton, Colorado to support growing customer demand for flight software, mission simulation, and Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) services. In addition, a News release from Rocket Lab mentioned a “Surge in customer demand and headcount growth drives expansion that is expected to more than double Rocket Lab’s presence in the nation’s second-largest space economy.
This is part of the reason for the facility’s expansion and general growth. The new complex expands on Rocket Lab’s existing footprint in Colorado, which was established in October 2021 with the acquisition of Advanced Solutions, Inc. (ASI), an aerospace engineering firm that develops industry-leading software and technology solutions for reliable space mission design and operation. ASI’s off-the-shelf spacecraft flight software, MAX, has been operating across 49 spacecraft for a cumulative 135 years in space supporting missions for leading aerospace prime contractors, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. DOD organizations, NASA, and commercial spacecraft developers. Since the acquisition, it has played an important role in Rocket Lab’s operations. The new complex will be established near Rocket Lab’s existing 15,000 sq ft location on Shaer Parkway in Littleton and will add 40,000 sq ft of new lab, production, and office space. The complex is expected to be completed by late 2022 and will include two mission operations centers. The expansion will also support team growth, with Rocket Lab’s Colorado headcount expected to double to more than 120 people by early 2023 with roles spanning flight software development, GNC, spacecraft simulation, and systems engineering.
As the company’s team, plans, and future goals become larger and more ambitious, they will need to provide proper space and infrastructure to continue working and innovating. The CEO of Rocket Lab, Peter Beck mentioned “After welcoming ASI to the Rocket Lab family late last year, we are incredibly excited to expand our Colorado footprint, grow the team, expand our engineering capabilities, and further enhance our space systems portfolio to meet growing customer demand.” He also made it clear that “As an end-to-end space company, we can support every phase of our customer’s missions from initial spacecraft design, manufacture, and test, right through to launch and on-orbit operation. Flight software is a vital part of every space mission and with our new complex and expanded team, we can build on ASI’s strong heritage to deliver industry-leading flight software products to our global customers at scale.” ASI helps ensure Rocket Lab can offer practically every aspect of the launch process to their customers no matter the mission.
ASI Colorado Complex
As I mentioned prior, the new complex expansion revolves around ASI or Advanced Solutions Inc. In October 2021, Rocket Lab acquired Advanced Solutions, Inc, a Colorado-based aerospace engineering firm delivering mission-proven space software, mission simulation, and testing solutions. ASI’s industry-leading advances in in-flight software, mission simulation, and Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) significantly strengthen Rocket Lab’s Space Systems portfolio, which encompasses the Photon spacecraft line and Sinclair Interplanetary satellite hardware. Both Rocket Lab and ASI have built leading space businesses with mission-proven technology. Together, both companies are delivering an industry-leading comprehensive space solution spanning launch, spacecraft build, and mission design and operations.
While it has not been very long since the acquisition, the partnership has proven to be quite the asset. With this acquisition, ASI gets access to Rocket Lab’s extensive resources and Rocket Lab gets a very well-tested, developed, and important flight software portfolio. These benefits along with a growing company have encouraged the expansion of its space system complex. In addition, currently, 49 spacecraft are already operating MAX Flight Software. Also, Rocket Lab’s Colorado-based team is supporting development for a range of upcoming missions, including the Company’s upcoming CAPSTONE mission to the Moon and ESCAPADE mission to Mars for NASA featuring Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft. Each of these missions is extremely important to the company and ASI is helping significantly in each one. Since the acquisition, ASI has only proven to be more and more valuable as time has gone on. The new complex is an upgrade in many ways.
One reason has to do with the location, which is very close to the existing facility. This simplifies a lot of factors and ensures they can easily fill the complex with staff. Next is the massive size increase. The new space systems complex is going to be almost 3 times as big as the current facility. Specifically, they are going from 15,000 square feet to 40,000. This will not only provide more space and opportunity now but a long time into the future as well. Advanced Solutions Inc’s experience is one of the strongest benefits to the company. With almost 150 years of cumulative years in space from Max flight software, the company has well-tested equipment. This is exactly what Rocket Lab needs as they work on more ambitious and unique goals such as Neutron, missions to the Moon, and more.
Conclusion
Over the past few years, we have seen Rocket Lab expand and try new things. In addition to this, they have continued to innovate Electron and launch the rocket much more consistently. Recently the company has attempted even more catch attempts of the booster which will help save time and money. However, all this growth requires more infrastructure, staff, and general facilities. Only a few days ago Rocket Lab announced they are expanding a current footprint in Colorado with a new space systems complex. This has to do with the acquisition of ASI in 2021. The extra space will help expand their engineering capabilities, facilitate growth, and enhance their space systems portfolio. All of which are necessary if the company wants to succeed with current and future plans. We will have to wait and see how the construction goes and the impact it has on the company and the space industry.