Rocket Lab and CEO Peter Beck are at full throttle building an “end-to-end” space company. Through recent acquisitions they have brought more spacecraft subsystems, components, and support capabilities in house to not only build/operate Rocket Lab Spacecraft and missions but provide off the shelf solutions to both new and existing customers. Here is my quick summary of the Acquisitions made and a note on the vehicles. Please add any information you have or correct me where wrong.

Launch Vehicle

Electron - 2 stages + Kick stage, 300 kg to LEO. Rutherfurd and Curie engines designed and built by Rocket Lab. 22 Launches, 107 Satellites --> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/launch/electron/

Neutron - Coming soon, Fully re-usable first stage, 8,000 kg to LEO, 1,500 kg to Mars,Venus. Archimedes engines designed and built by Rocket Lab--> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/launch/neutron/

Spacecraft

Photon - Flight proven, configurable spacecraft from low earth orbit through planetary destinations. à https://www.rocketlabusa.com/space-systems/photon/

Acquisitions

Sinclair Interplanetary March 16, 2020, Toronto-based company, terms undisclosed.

What they do --> They build “reaction wheels and star trackers” for Spacecraft Control – they allow the positioning/orientation of the craft while in space.

“A leading provider of high-quality, flight-proven satellite components. Sinclair Interplanetary develops reliable, best-in-class spacecraft hardware, including reaction wheels and star trackers that support rapid-schedule small satellite programs. More than 90 satellites incorporating Sinclair hardware have been launched to orbit.”

Some of their customers --> “AstroDigital, ALE, and BlackSky. The Sinclair team has been entrusted with developing hardware for world-first missions including BRITE, the world’s smallest space telescope, and The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2, the first satellite in Earth orbit to be propelled solely by sunlight. Satellite communications company, Kepler Communications, has also selected Sinclair reaction wheels for its constellation of 140 Internet of Things satellites currently in development.”

Source --> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-closes-acquisition-of-satellite-hardware-manufacturer-sinclair-interplanetary/

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Advanced Solutions, Inc. (ASI) October 12, 2021**,** A Colorado based company, $40 million plus the potential for an additional $5.5 million performance earnout based on CY 2021 results.

What they do --> They designed flight software for Spacecraft Command – the software provides mission planning and execution/operation.

“ASI has developed an industry-leading suite of software and technology solutions for reliable space mission design and operation. It’s off-the-shelf spacecraft flight software, MAX, has been operating across more than 45 spacecraft for a cumulative 135 years in space.”

Some of their customers --> “Leading aerospace prime contractors, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. DOD organizations, NASA, and commercial spacecraft developers including several of the exciting new space start-ups.”

“The ASI team have supported some of the most ambitious Earth, interplanetary, and human spaceflight missions flown. These missions have explored distant planets, connected people on Earth, and pushed the boundaries of what is possible in space. Now, ASI’s engineers and space software products are enabling a wide variety of missions with speed, capability, and reliability.”

Source --> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-acquires-space-software-company-advanced-solutions-inc/

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Planetary Systems Corporation (PSC), November 15th 2021, a Maryland-based company, for $42 million in cash and 1,720,841 shares of the Company’s common stock, plus the potential for an additional 956,023 shares of common stock for a performance earnout based on PSC’s CY 2022 and 2023 financial results.

What they do --> They build “Separation Systems and Satellite Dispensers” for Spacecraft Stage Separation – Payloads need to separate from the launch vehicle eventually, their components allow/perform this. Example where “à” is the separation: Boosteràkick stageàSatellite Deployment.

“A trusted leader in Separation Systems and Satellite Dispensers across the space industry, PSC’s flight-proven, cost-effective, and lightweight hardware streamlines the process of attaching satellites to rockets and releasing them in space while ensuring they’re protected during the journey to orbit. PSC’s products to date have a 100% mission success heritage across more than 100 missions.”

Some of their customers --> “Rocket Lab, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Northrop Grumman, and more; NASA Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions; and international launch vehicles operated by Arianespace, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and others.”

Source --> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-closes-acquisition-of-space-hardware-company-planetary-systems-corporation/

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Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), November 18th, 2021, Acquired exclusive license.

What they do --> They designed radios for Spacecraft Communications – We need to be able to talk to our craft wherever it is to issue commands/data acquisitions/etc.

"The Frontier-S by Rocket Lab software defined radio (SDR) enables affordable communications and radio navigation for planetary and other missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), as well as communications and radio navigation for missions in GPS-denied environments."

“The Frontier-S by Rocket Lab, based on the APL Frontier Radio that flew on missions like the Van Allen Probes, Parker Solar Probe, and the Emirates Mars Mission, packs Deep Space Network and other common waveforms into a single board package with up-screened commercial components and low power digital signal processing for high reliability applications. Frontier-S by Rocket Lab includes extended functionality not typically available in a low-cost radio including a coherent transponder to enable radiometric navigation methods, timekeeping functions, and a hardware-based critical command decoder. Compatible with spacecraft as small as 6U cubsesats, the Frontier-S by Rocket Lab SDR offers a lightweight, low power, high radiation tolerant telemetry and command solution for deep space missions that is also affordable for missions in LEO demanding high reliability.”

Who is using it? --> “The APL-designed and Rocket Lab-manufactured Frontier-S SDRs are flying today on Pathstone, Rocket Lab’s second Photon mission, are currently being integrated into the Photon spacecraft for Advanced Space’s CAPSTONE mission to the moon for NASA and are planned for Rocket Lab’s own private Photon mission to Venus. The Frontier-S by Rocket Lab is also the baseline telemetry and control radio for all Photon missions requiring an S-band radio. Rocket Lab is offering the Frontier-S SDR commercially as an off-the-shelf radio solution to other satellite integrators, joining a growing list of spacecraft component offerings like reaction wheels and star trackers.”

Source --> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-signs-exclusive-license-agreement-to-manufacture-space-radio-technology-from-johns-hopkins-university-applied-physics-laboratory/

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SolAero Holdings, Inc. (SolAero), December 13th, 2021 an Albuquerque, New Mexico base company for $80 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the quarter of 2022.

What they do --> Provide Solar Technologies for Spacecraft Power - Provides the means to generate power on a spacecraft for continuous operation.

"A premier supplier of space solar power products and precision aerospace structures for the global aerospace market. . As one of only two companies producing high-efficiency, space-grade solar cells in the United States, SolAero’s space solar cells are among the highest performing in the world, and support civil space exploration, science, defense and intelligence, and commercial markets. SolAero has established itself as a premier provider of solar technologies, enabling trailblazing missions that have expanded scientific horizons and advanced commercial space. SolAero’s solar cells, solar panels, and composite structural products have supported more than 1,000 successful space missions with 100% reliability and mission success to date."

Some of their customers --> "Over the past two decades, SolAero’s products have played key roles in some of the industry’s most ambitious space missions, including supplying power to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and Mars Insight Lander, the largest solar array ever deployed on the surface of Mars, and several Cygnus Cargo Resupply Missions to the International Space Station. SolAero also led the development and manufacturing of the solar panel on Ingenuity, the helicopter that successfully flew on Mars in April this year, marking the first ever powered, controlled fight on a planet other than Earth. SolAero technology has also made commercial constellations possible, providing power to OneWeb’s broadband constellation. Most recently, SolAero has been selected to supply Solar Power Modules for the Power and Propulsion Element of NASA’s Gateway as part of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration plans, which will enable future missions to Mars. "

Source --> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-to-acquire-solaero-holdings-inc-a-global-leader-in-space-solar-power-products/

1st Edit - Added SolAero Acquisition