Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 22 May 2017

New Zealand space launch has nation reaching for the stars

The venture has left New Beck. “Not enough people couple of other compa-
Zealand officials excited go out on nice starry night nies are also trying to fill the
and struggling to keep and look up.” niche that Rocket Lab is
up. Politicians are rushing Both Beck and Bridges are aiming for but there is plen-
through new space laws careful to temper expec- ty of potential for growth.
and the government has tations for the test launch, “There was a big hole in the
set up a boutique space which is scheduled to take market,” Stallmer said. “We
agency, which employs 10 place within a 10-day win- are pretty excited about
people. dow. They say there could what Rocket Lab is doing.”
Bridges said that if Rocket be delays and things could He said the U.S. is launch-
Lab is successful, it could go wrong. ing fewer than two-dozen
change people’s percep- Rocket Lab, which is pri- commercial rockets a year
tion of New Zealand from vately held, has received and remains a world lead-
a place full of farms and about $150 million in ven- er. Still, he thinks Rocket
nice scenery to a techno- ture capital funding, in- Lab’s goal of 50 or more
logically savvy nation on cluding an undisclosed launches a year sounds
In this May 19, 2017 photo supplied by Rocket Lab, engineers the rise. amount from Bessemer ambitious, and would take
work with the Electron rocket at the launch site on the Mahia He said the space industry Venture Partners in Silicon several years to achieve.
Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. could soon bring in hun- Valley. Beck said the benefits of its
Associated Press
dreds of millions of dollars Bessemer partner David launch site at Mahia Pen-
each year and rival indus- Cowan said that for years, insula on the North Island
tries like wine and kiwifruit. the trend was for both rock- include its location on a
NICK PERRY ic development minister. He envisions spinoff com- ets and satellites to get big- sliver of land that’s almost
Associated Press “For us to do it, and be in panies and many high- ger and bigger, until many surrounded by water and
WELLINGTON, New Zea- the first couple of handfuls paying jobs, much of it built satellites were the size of a clear skies that are free
land (AP) — New Zealand of countries in the world, is on the back of Rocket Lab. bus or even a house. from much air traffic.
has never had a space pretty impressive.” The company’s Electron Needs have changed rap- Bevan Cutler, who moved
program but could soon Rocket Lab sees an emerg- rocket is unusual in many idly over the last few years to the area a couple of
be launching commercial ing market in delivering lots respects. as technology has allowed months ago and bought
rockets more often than of small devices, some not It carries only a small pay- tiny, cheap satellites to be the Mahia Beach Store,
the United States. much bigger than a smart- load of about 150 kilograms put into lower orbits, he said it’s a beautiful place
That’s if the plans of Califor- phone, into low Earth or- (331 pounds). It’s made said. with lots of holiday homes.
nia-based company Rock- bit. The satellites would be from carbon fiber and uses Cowan, who is flying to People come for the surf-
et Lab work out. used for everything from an electric engine. Rocket New Zealand to witness ing, fishing and diving.
Founded by New Zealand- monitoring crops to provid- Lab says each launch will the launch, said he was Some folk are upset the
er Peter Beck, the compa- ing internet service. cost just $5 million, a tiny impressed with how local launches could result in
ny was last week given of- The company hopes to be- fraction of a typical rocket officials and everyday folks the temporary closure of
ficial approval to conduct gin commercial launches launch. seem to be embracing the roads and fishing grounds,
three test launches from later this year and eventu- Unlike SpaceX, which aims idea. On a recent visit to a he said. Others are excited
a remote peninsula in the ally launch one rocket ev- to build a rocket that’s sheep farm, he said a farm- about the prospect of new
South Pacific nation. Rock- ery week. It plans to keep fully reusable, Rocket er who had no idea about customers and business op-
et Lab is planning the first costs low by using light- Lab’s rockets are dispos- his involvement in the proj- portunities.
launch of its Electron rock- weight, disposable rockets able. Beck said they are ect was eager to tell him Most, he said, are waiting
et sometime from Monday, with 3D-printed engines. It’s light and use relatively little how New Zealand would to see what happens with
depending on conditions. a different plan than some fuel. Customers who have be launching a rocket. the first test launch.
“So far, it’s only superpow- other space companies signed up so far include Eric Stallmer, president “It could have fairly large
ers that have gone into like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, NASA and Moon Express. of the Washington, D.C.- implications moving for-
space,” said Simon Bridges, which uses larger rockets to “Space has always held a based Commercial Space- ward,” Cutler said. “We just
New Zealand’s econom- carry bigger payloads. fascination for me,” said flight Federation, said a don’t know yet.”q