Arizona startup Vector to announce Cape Canaveral launch plans

An Arizona startup developing a rocket for launches of small satellites this weekend will announce plans to launch missions to orbit from Cape Canaveral, Space Florida said Tuesday.

Vector Space Systems on Saturday will erect a test version of its Vector-R "micro-launcher" at Launch Complex 46, a vehicle that will then go on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

CEO Jim Cantrell also “will announce the intention of the company to use the launch facilities in the future,” according to Space Florida.

The two-stage Vector-R — the "R" is short for Rapid — stands 42 feet tall and measures 42 inches around, and is designed to deliver micro-satellites weighing up to about 135 pounds to orbit.

The rocket is expected to debut in 2018, flying up to six times. The company eventually envisions launching 100 or more times a year.

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Vector was formed about a year ago with the acquisition of Garvey Spacecraft Corp., the developer of suborbital rocket. Cantrell and John Garvey are former members of SpaceX’s early engineering team.

“All of the propulsion is pretty well done, the basic vehicle design was there,” Cantrell said in a recent appearance on “The Space Show” hosted by David Livingston. “And really what it needed was to go out and gather up some venture funding and scale it and get customers and start flying them.”

Cantrell said Vector has sold 105 launches, also including on a scaled-up “heavy-lift” version of the rocket, the Vector-H, which can deliver nearly 300 pounds to orbit.

The rockets are transported on mobile launch platforms and require minimal ground infrastructure.

Vector intends to launch missions into polar orbits from Alaska, and will explore options for backup ranges the company anticipates needing to support such a high flight rate.

“We know we can produce them; they’re very small, simple vehicles,” Cantrell told Livingston. “But can we fly them that often?”

Cantrell said Vector’s customers are mostly commercial, and include a contender to win the Google Lunar XPRIZE, meaning that the company will attempt to launch a very small spacecraft to the moon.

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In addition to launching rockets, Vector has a division developing small satellites that customers can easily customize with software for different missions.

Several companies are developing small rockets to meet what they project will be a burgeoning demand for launches of small satellites that now typically must hitch rides to orbit with much larger spacecraft, making access to space difficult and costly.

One of those competitors, Rocket Lab, on Tuesday announced it has raised another $75 million — bringing its total to nearly $150 million — to support flights of its Electron rocket, which are expected to start this year from New Zealand. Cape Canaveral-based Moon Express, another Google Lunar XPRIZE contender, hopes to fly on an Electron late this year.

Virgin Galactic also is developing a small satellite launcher and counts OneWeb Satellites, based at Kennedy Space Center’s Exploration Park, among its customers.

Another startup in the same launch market, Texas-based Firefly Space Systems, shut down last year.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean.