Talk:Rocket Lab: Difference between revisions

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::::Yes, but it ''has'' changed. They [https://www.rocketlabusa.com/latest/series-d-financing/ took another $75 mil USD] in March this year. [https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/rocket-lab#/entity This] is a good source for this sort of data. That last round included parts from K1W1, so there's certainly plenty of NZ money in there - but I don't believe it's possible to accurately measure this. [[User:Snori|Snori]] ([[User talk:Snori|talk]]) 21:25, 6 June 2017 (UTC)
::::Yes, but it ''has'' changed. They [https://www.rocketlabusa.com/latest/series-d-financing/ took another $75 mil USD] in March this year. [https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/rocket-lab#/entity This] is a good source for this sort of data. That last round included parts from K1W1, so there's certainly plenty of NZ money in there - but I don't believe it's possible to accurately measure this. [[User:Snori|Snori]] ([[User talk:Snori|talk]]) 21:25, 6 June 2017 (UTC)
:::::Thanks for the sources.<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> mckee@paradise.net.nz 11.24, 7 June 2017
:::::Thanks for the sources.<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> mckee@paradise.net.nz 11.24, 7 June 2017

::::Whatever the case, the opening phrase of the article “Rocket Lab is a US aerospace corporation with a New Zealand subsidiary” doesn’t seem an adequate description. I suggest instead “Rocket Lab is a private aerospace company, founded in New Zealand and now with a holding company registered in the USA and bases in both countries.” It has the virtue of being both accurate and less controversial. I also strongly suggest you include in the article the address of the headquarters in New Zealand. This is, after all, where the test flights are directed from - see <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rocket-lab/news/article.cfm?o_id=600723&objectid=11863731> for the May 2017 flight. ([[User talk:121.75.117.10|talk]]) <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> mckee@paradise.net.nz 8:13, 12 June 2017


== History, and Atea-1 ==
== History, and Atea-1 ==

Revision as of 20:15, 11 June 2017

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New contract

Launches contracted for Moon Express: [1]. Cheers, BatteryIncluded (talk) 23:33, 1 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sources for improving the article

Here are a bunch of sources, some of them quite good, for potentially improving the article. Cheers. N2e (talk) 16:10, 11 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

US company

It is not clear in what way this is a US company or whether it always was a US company. The technical work all seems to be done in NZ. This needs to be explained.Royalcourtier (talk) 20:20, 27 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Further, the company was founded by a New Zealander (Peter Beck, still the CEO / CTO) in 2006 - <https://www.rocketlabusa.com>. It was incorporated and registered as a company in New Zealand on 29 June 2006 and is still registered as such, with the headquarters shown as being in Auckland, New Zealand - <https://www.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/1835428>.

Most of the backing companies are currently USA companies, and it has a base in the USA, but the company base remains in New Zealand, its first test launches are in New Zealand, and almost all of the senior staff listed on its website are New Zealanders - <https://www.rocketlabusa.com>. 121.75.117.10 (talk) 22:58, 25 May 2017 (UTC) mckee@paradise.net.nz 10:50, 26 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

C'mon. New Zealand lover? I don't particularly hold any torches for either the USA or New Zealand. I'm happy to celebrate either - if warranted. I do care about accuracy, though. A few more points -
I can't track Rocket Lab anywhere on the US Register of Companies. Shouldn't it be there if it is one? (And, as above, the company is registered in New Zealand.)
It's been funded by several New Zealand Government grants, from the Callaghan Institute - <https://www.callaghaninnovation.govt.nz/grants/grant-recipients?combine=Rocket+Lab&op=Search&field_grant_type_tid=All&field_grant_dates_value%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=&field_grant_dates_value_1%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=)> - which is specifically concerned with New Zealand technical development
A New Zealand Government minister hailed the May test launch as "the first visible sign of a space industry in New Zealand" - <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rocket-lab/news/article.cfm?o_id=600723&objectid=11862250>
Even a correspondent for Reuters from Cape Canaveral - <http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-space-rocketlab-idUSKBN16S1IK> - doesn't commit herself on the nationality of the company
As Royal Courtier says, "This needs to be explained." (talk) ~~~~ mckee@paradise.net.nz 7:15, 6 June 2017
Well... (a) The current parent company says it's a US company, (b) The domain name, rocketlab USA .com is a bit of a clue, (c) The New Zealand company "RocketLab Ltd", is now a subsidiary (see this). You might also find this interesting reading. Seems like access to US funding and to ITAR technology is part of the reason (see "For security reasons..." wording on this page). And, ROCKET LAB USA, INC. appears to be Delaware Corporation, file number 5357668 registered 26 June 2013 Snori (talk) 01:30, 6 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Interesting. Thank you. However, at least in 2015, the USA company (formed 7 years after the original company) was actually majority New Zealand owned, "60.23% by Peter Beck the founder and a New Zealander based in Auckland, 2.27% by K1W1 No.8, a New Zealand-based investment company owned by Stephen Tindall, and 37.5% by Khosla Ventures a USA-based investment company" - <https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/order-paper-questions/written-questions/document/QWA_04372_2015/4372-2015-rt-hon-winston-peters-to-the-minister-for>. If this has not changed, both the original company and the "US" holding company are effectively New Zealand companies. There seem good reasons of finance/initial inspiration/expertise/engineering/pioneering launches to think so, whatever the label they choose at various times for security reasons or to attract the funding. Maybe the best label would be a "NZ/USA company"? (talk) ~~~~ mckee@paradise.net.nz 20:07, 6 June 2017
Yes, but it has changed. They took another $75 mil USD in March this year. This is a good source for this sort of data. That last round included parts from K1W1, so there's certainly plenty of NZ money in there - but I don't believe it's possible to accurately measure this. Snori (talk) 21:25, 6 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the sources.~~~~ mckee@paradise.net.nz 11.24, 7 June 2017
Whatever the case, the opening phrase of the article “Rocket Lab is a US aerospace corporation with a New Zealand subsidiary” doesn’t seem an adequate description. I suggest instead “Rocket Lab is a private aerospace company, founded in New Zealand and now with a holding company registered in the USA and bases in both countries.” It has the virtue of being both accurate and less controversial. I also strongly suggest you include in the article the address of the headquarters in New Zealand. This is, after all, where the test flights are directed from - see <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rocket-lab/news/article.cfm?o_id=600723&objectid=11863731> for the May 2017 flight. (talk) ~~~~ mckee@paradise.net.nz 8:13, 12 June 2017

History, and Atea-1

The claim by this section that Rocket Lab Ltd. was not "the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space" because that could not be validated by telemetry downlink, is immaterial.

There was telemetry, but it was not a downlink - it went to a satellite, which is how the location of the payload dart's descent to the sea was determined. Cf. http://www.astronautix.com/a/atea-1.html, where one may read: "Payload recovery – A GPS transceiver used the Inmarsat B satellite constellation to communicate the launch vehicle"

It is this, as well as the known performance of the boost stage (which benefited from telemetry) that permits deduction of the payload apogee being above the Karman line.

The entire tone of the article is deprecating in a manner which makes one wonder about the motives of such edits.

Go away New Zealand lover! We don't want no New Zealand lovers on WP....
But seriously, that wording struck me as odd too. I'm going to read the source...
P.S. Please finish your posts with ~~~~ to sign them. NickCT (talk) 12:53, 26 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Ok. So here's a source that seems to support the telemetry downlink claim. NickCT (talk) 12:57, 26 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed, the reporter (Karen Graham) seems to believe there was no telemetry downlink. Likewise, the claim of no downlink telemetry was expanded on by Chris Gebhardt, as reported on May 24, 2017 by NASASpaceflight.com. Both reporters seem to have misinterpreted "no telemetry downlink" as meaning "no telemetry at all".
I'd defer to the assessment of Astronautix ("The standard Atea-1 featured an in-house developed avionics package, recovery systems for land or sea, power supply and payload-avionics interface"). While there was no telemetry downlink to the ground station, there was a telemetry uplink from the launch vehicle to an Inmarsat-B satellite which allowed tracking by GPS.
Note that such Inmarsat-B services are no longer available to Rocket Lab (because closed down at the start of this year) but back in 2009 the Inmarsat-B services included voice, telex, and data services at 9.6 kbaud as well as high speed data services (up to 128 kbaud). This is easily enough to relay GPS co-ordinates. 122.57.120.63 (talk) 09:48, 1 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Ok. Here's a second reporter who said the same thing. And another. Clearly these folks got their information from somewhere. Honestly, I don't really care about the technicalities of an "uplink" versus "downlink". All that really matters here on WP is whether information is verifiable (it doesn't even really matter if it's true or not). This info looks verifiable. NickCT (talk) 11:18, 2 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
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