{"id":843324,"date":"2025-04-24T19:13:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T00:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/24\/rocket-lab-launches-final-set-of-kineis-satellites\/"},"modified":"2025-04-24T19:13:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T00:13:22","slug":"rocket-lab-launches-final-set-of-kineis-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/24\/rocket-lab-launches-final-set-of-kineis-satellites\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab launches final set of Kin\u00e9is satellites"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Rocket Lab Electron lifted off March 17 on the fifth and final launch of satellite for French company Kin\u00e9is. Credit:<\/span> Rocket Lab webcast<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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WASHINGTON \u2014 Rocket Lab has completed the deployment of a constellation of Internet-of-Things satellites for French company Kin\u00e9is with a launch March 17.<\/p>\n

An Electron rocket lifted off from Pad A of Rocket Lab\u2019s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 9:31 p.m. Eastern. The payload of five satellites for Kin\u00e9is were deployed by the rocket\u2019s kick stage into sun-synchronous orbits at altitudes of 650 kilometers a little more than an hour later.<\/p>\n

The launch was the fifth and final mission under a contract signed by the companies in 2021<\/a>. Each launch carried five satellites, weighing 28 kilograms each, to complete a 25-satellite constellation. Those launches started in June 2024<\/a>, with subsequent launches in September and November 2024 and on Feb. 8.<\/p>\n

The satellites will provide Internet-of-Things (IoT) communications services and track vessels using Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders. Kin\u00e9is plans to begin commercial services with the satellites on June 1, offering data with a latency of no more than 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2018, we have led an ambitious project and this launch, the final one in a series of five, crowns an exceptional effort carried out with solid partners like Rocket Lab, enabling the deployment of our IoT-dedicated constellation in less than a year,\u201d Christophe Vassal, chairman of the supervisory board of Kin\u00e9is, said in a statement. \u201cThis achievement marks the beginning of a new era for Kin\u00e9is, where the data collected by our constellation will unlock numerous opportunities for our clients and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company said it expects to be profitable this year and reach annual revenues of 20 million euros ($22 million) in 2026, growing to 100 million euros in the next eight years.<\/p>\n

For Rocket Lab, this was the second launch in a little more than 72 hours, after another Electron launched a radar imaging satellite<\/a> for Japanese company iQPS March 14. It was the fourth launch so far this year for Rocket Lab, which previously stated it expects to perform more than 20 Electron launches<\/a>, including of the HASTE suborbital version, this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany constellation operators wait years for their first mission, but we\u2019ve deployed Kin\u00e9is\u2019 mission in under a year and with 100% dedicated launches where they have been able to select launch site, date, and orbital parameters allowing them to maximize coverage for each of their 25 spacecraft,\u201d Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said in a statement about the launch.<\/p>\n

The company has noted that all its Electron missions so far this year, including for iQPS and imaging company BlackSky, have been for customers deploying constellations. Rocket Lab has argued that Electron is well-suited for that role to provide more control over orbits and schedule, even as many other satellite developers turn to low-cost rideshare launches offered by SpaceX.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews.<\/p>\n

He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor\u2019s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Rocket Lab Electron lifted off March 17 on the fifth and final launch of satellite for French company Kin\u00e9is. Credit: Rocket Lab webcast WASHINGTON \u2014 Rocket Lab has completed the deployment of a constellation of Internet-of-Things satellites for French company Kin\u00e9is with a launch March 17. An Electron rocket lifted off from Pad A<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":843325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2432,3926],"tags":[7812,5721],"class_list":{"0":"post-843324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-launches","8":"category-rocket","9":"tag-launches","10":"tag-rocket"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}