Rocket Lab Acquires Satellite Hardware Company

Integration of NRO Birds of a Feather mission on Rocket Lab’s Electron space vehicle. Photo: Rocket Lab Acquires

Rocket Lab has reached an agreement to acquire Sinclair Interplanetary, a Toronto-based satellite hardware company, the small satellite launch company said March 16.

“By combining the experience and capabilities of both companies, Rocket Lab will deliver reliable and flexible satellite and launch solutions that enable customers to do more, spend less and reach orbit faster,” Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO said.

Rocket Lab will look to leverage Sinclair Interplanetary strong brand and equally impressive heritage of innovation, quality, and execution. Sinclair products will be key features of Rocket Lab’s in-house designed and built Photon satellite platforms, and Rocket Lab will bring additional resources to grow Sinclair’s already strong merchant spacecraft components business.

The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but Rocket Lab said in the release that the acquisition will strengthen its satellite division. Rocket Lab produces the Photon spacecraft line. The acquisition will allow Sinclair to utilize Rocket Lab’s resources, scale and manufacturing capability. Rocket Lab Acquires

Sinclair was founded in 2001 by Doug Sinclair, and the company develops spacecraft hardware such as reaction wheels and star trackers that support rapid-schedule small satellite programs. Rocket Lab plans to use Sinclair products as “key features” in its in-house designed and built Photon platforms.

Doug Sinclair added “Rocket Lab has played a pivotal role in making it easy for small satellites to access space. By operating as one company, we now can do the same for satellite manufacturing and make our hardware available to more customers globally. We will be able to supply larger constellations than before and take our hardware out to the Moon and beyond.  I look forward to working with Peter and the Rocket Lab team as we move into an exciting new era for Sinclair Interplanetary.”

In addition, Rocket Lab said on March 9 that its next mission will deploy payloads from NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the University of New South Wales Canberra Space. The launch will carry three payloads designed, built and operated by the NRO