Rocket Lab To Launch Global Wildfire Detection And Monitoring Mission For OroraTech

Long Beach, California. 22 January, 2025. – Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced it has signed a contract for a responsive launch on Electron with Orora Technologies (OroraTech), a German company developing a satellite constellation to monitor wildfires and alert first responders to danger.

Launching from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, the dedicated mission on Electron will deploy eight satellites to a 550km orbit within just four months from launch contract signing, enabling OroraTech to meet the season-sensitive requirements of its wildfire detection mission. The rapid turnaround is just the latest demonstration of Rocket Lab’s responsive launch capabilities for satellite operators needing urgent access to space.

OroraTech is developing a constellation of satellites with thermal infrared cameras that can provide 24/7 monitoring of wildfires globally, supporting better and faster wildfire response to protect forests, people, and infrastructure worldwide. The mission will deploy its latest plane of satellites called OTC-P1 to their current constellation, further expanding OroraTech’s capabilities to first responders, governments, and industry partners. The company will expand their constellation with up to 100 satellites in total by 2028.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, said: “This launch is a showcase of all the benefits of flying dedicated on Electron: control over schedule, agility and ability to meet tight deadlines and mission requirements, and the reliability of launching on the world’s most frequently launched small orbital rocket. Knowing that time is of the essence to get these satellites in space, we’re proud to be rising to the challenge and supporting the OroraTech mission to better monitor for and protect against these devastating natural disasters globally.”

The mission is the latest launch to be announced in a packed 2025 launch manifest for Rocket Lab that includes the continuation of multi-launch contracts with constellation operators Synspective, Kineis, and BlackSky;; a responsive space mission for the U.S. Space Force that will see Rocket Lab build a spacecraft, then launch it on Electron with 24-hours’ notice; and the debut launch of Rocket Lab’s new medium-lift reusable rocket, Neutron.

About Rocket Lab

Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier, and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle, the HASTE suborbital launch vehicle for hypersonic tests, a family of flight proven spacecraft, and the larger Neutron launch vehicle for constellation deployment.

Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually. Rocket Lab has deployed 200+ payloads from its launch sites in the United States and New Zealand for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab’s family of spacecraft have been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third launch pad in Virginia.

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