Low-mass satellites are taking over the aerospace industry by storm thanks to their relative affordability and the fact that they can be launched in large numbers. But the technology is held back by the infrequency of space launches, an obstacle that Rocket Lab Ltd. seeks to remove.

The startup’s ambitious cause has attracted $75 million in funding, announced today from a group of investors led by Data Collective. Rocket Lab will use the capital to ramp up its space delivery operation, which aims to help aerospace companies get their satellites into orbit drastically faster than they can now. At the heart of the effort is a specialized delivery vehicle called Electron that is specifically designed with small payloads in mind.

The rocket is 55 feet tall and four feet across and can carry a maximum of 500 pounds worth of hardware into low Earth orbit. It’s equipped with a liquid propellant engine that is fabricated almost entirely by way of 3D printing, which enables Rocket Lab to keep its production costs much lower than the likes of Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX. According to internal estimates, a single mission will only cost $4.9 million.

Its small size and modest price tag will make it possible to produce the Electron in much large volumes than more conventional rockets. Rocket Lab is aiming for a unit per week, which theoretically should translate into a similar number of launches. Such a frequent flight schedule could make the startup’s program a highly competitive alternative to the current options available to small satellite operators, which often have to wait years until a spot opens up on a rocket.

Rocket Lab plans to conduct its first launch within a few weeks. Chief Executive Officer Peter Beck detailed in a blog post that the rocket will be equipped with a custom diagnostics system configured to monitor “20,000 data channels,” information that should help its engineers find areas for improvement.

Assuming that everything goes according to plan, two more rockets currently undergoing assembly will go up not long thereafter. Rocket Labs intends to launch the vehicles from a facility in Beck’s native New Zealand, which has been chosen because of its limited air traffic. The fact that the skies are clear most of the time reduces the risk of scheduling conflicts and should help the startup stick to its flight schedule more easily than if it were using a launchpad in, say, the U.S.

Rocket Lab has raised a total $148 million in outside capital on a valuation exceeding $1 billion. Today’s funding comes a month after LeoLabs Inc., another startup seeking to capitalize on the rapid growth of the satellite industry, secured $4 million to track space debris that may pose a risk in orbit. 

Image: StockSnap