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Rocket Lab
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== Space systems gaining fast traction == Beyond the launch business, Rocket Lab is also striving to become a satellite platform, fully leveraging its ability to provide customers access to space. This includes selling its Photon family of spacecraft, portfolio of standalone components, engineering/design services, and on-orbit constellation management services. With this diverse set of offerings, Deutsche Bank believes Rocket Lab can capture more of the value chain, giving it greater runway for growth and diversity of income streams. '''Photon''' is a versatile and customizable small spacecraft with use-cases across low/medium orbit, geosynchronous orbit, and interplanetary missions. Photon can be integrated as the upper stage of Electron (kick-stage) during launch, eliminating parasitic mass (i.e., full use of fairing volume for payloads). NASA is using Photon for its CAPSTONE lunar mission and also to study Mars. These spacecrafts can also fly on other launch vehicles, meaning even if Rocket Lab does not win the launch contract, it can garner value from the satellite. Pricing can vary significantly, from a few million to >$10m depending on complexity and scope. On the '''components''' side, Rocket Lab sells reaction wheels, torque rods, solar panels, satellite radios/batteries, and star trackers. The company essentially entered this market through the acquisition of Sinclair Interplanetary, providing Rocket Lab with a greater degree of vertical integration (Sinclair had content on nearly 100 satellites when the deal closed). In doing so, Rocket Lab can now essentially be a high-volume supplier to other aerospace companies for components. Historically, the supply chain has experienced long lead times and high prices. Moving forward, management sees an opportunity to take over other small private suppliers (often generating very healthy margins), and scale up operations, benefitting both its internal needs and ever-growing merchant business. For example, Rocket Lab is constructing a new reaction wheel production plant with up to 2,000 units per year of capacity to satisfy high demand from constellations. Deutsche Bank notes the price of a reaction wheel ranges from $15k to $80k. * '''Reaction wheels''' are motor-driven flywheels used to store angular momentum on a spacecraft. Many spacecraft use three or four reaction wheels to provide agile 3-axis pointing control. Some configurations use a single wheel, called a “momentum wheel,” for stable Earth-pointing control. All Rocket Lab reaction wheels incorporate an onboard digital processor with speed and torque control loops. * '''Star trackers''' are optical sensors that determine a spacecraft’s pointing direction and rotation rate by looking at the stars. Rocket Lab's star trackers are fully-integrated units, where one box includes the lens, detector, processor, and all of the power supply and support circuits. A catalog of more than two million possible star triangles is loaded before launch, allowing the processor to determine the direction from any single image. * '''Torque rods''' are long bars of special alloy steel, wound with coils of fine copper wire. When a current is passed through the wire, it becomes an electromagnet that generates a twisting force against the Earth’s magnetic field. Magnetic torque rods are used in low Earth orbit to remove angular momentum from reaction wheels, avoiding the requirement to expend irreplaceable propellant. * '''Batteries''' include both the high-capacity, high-voltage batteries used to power the pumps in the Rutherford rocket engine used by Electron and other batteries used for small spacecraft. Rocket Lab also conducts space systems engineering works with customers to develop, design and manufacture full spacecraft solutions; this is typically project driven over a period of time. Related to that, Rocket Lab can provide constellation management services where it performs command and control operations, utilizing ground station infrastructure to deliver data to spacecraft constellation operator customers following launch. Longer term, the company will aim to offer some sort of data & analytics software/service, but Deutsche Bank notes this is a tricky balance given conflicts of interest with major launch customers. '''Figure 21: Photon spacecraft'''<ref>Source: Satnews.</ref> [[File:20210924 Deutsche Bank RKLB Rocket Lab- The Gatekeepers of Space- Initiating with Bu Page 17 Image 0001.jpg|600px]] '''Figure 22: Types of space components<ref name=":0" />''' [[File:20210924 Deutsche Bank RKLB Rocket Lab- The Gatekeepers of Space- Initiating with Bu Page 18 Image 0001.jpg]]
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