Space Systems

The ZTJ is SolAero’s (now Rocket Lab) high-volume triple-junction GaInP/GaInAs/Ge space solar cell, qualified to AIAA S-111/S-112 with extensive LEO, MEO, GEO and deep-space flight heritage. The family spans the baseline ZTJ, higher-performance ZTJ+ and radiation-hard ZTJ-Omega, offered as bare cells or coverglass-interconnected cells (CICs).

Heritage: Hundreds of missions of heritage; produced in Albuquerque, NM (acquired with SolAero, Jan 2022).

The Z4J is Rocket Lab/SolAero’s four-junction, n-on-p space solar cell on a germanium substrate, delivering 30.0% minimum average BOL efficiency with superior radiation and temperature performance — roughly 7% more end-of-life power than the triple-junction ZTJ on a typical GEO telecom mission. It is the cell line used in Rocket Lab’s highest-efficiency panels and STARRAY arrays.

Heritage: Production 4J cell used on Rocket Lab panels and STARRAY arrays (SolAero, acquired Jan 2022).

Rocket Lab/SolAero’s inverted metamorphic multi-junction (IMM) cells are next-generation, ultra-thin, flexible InGaP/GaAs cells developed with the U.S. DOE NREL. Rocket Lab announced a 33.3%-efficient IMM cell in 2022; the IMM-alpha is 150 µm thick at 49 mg/cm² (~42% lighter than conventional multi-junction cells), and the radiation-hard five-junction IMM-beta retains 87% power after a 15-year-equivalent radiation dose.

Heritage: Developed from NREL IMM technology; 33.3% cell announced March 2022.

STARRAY (Standardized Array) is Rocket Lab’s family of customizable deployable solar arrays, introduced in April 2025. A wing can be tailored from roughly 100 W to over 2,000 W using up to four panels and Rocket Lab’s radiation-hardened quadruple-junction (Z4J) cells, giving operators a pre-engineered array solution with minimal non-recurring engineering.

Heritage: Productized array line launched April 2025, building on SolAero cells and Rocket Lab substrates.

Rocket Lab designs and manufactures complete solar panels and CFRP/aluminum-honeycomb panel substrates populated with SolAero CICs. A flagship program is the Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA) modules delivered for Maxar’s assembly of NASA Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element, supplying nearly 70 kW. Panel and substrate manufacturing is anchored at Rocket Lab’s Space Structures Complex in Middle River, Maryland.

Heritage: Delivered final NASA Gateway PPE ROSA modules Nov 2022; long-running SolAero substrate heritage.

Gauss is Rocket Lab’s in-house Hall-effect electric propulsion system, unveiled in April 2026 to meet high-volume constellation demand. The system comprises a Hall thruster, a Power Processing Unit (PPU) and a Propellant Management Assembly (PMA), runs on xenon (with a krypton option), and is designed for far higher specific impulse than chemical propulsion. It features a heaterless cathode for instantaneous start, magnetic shielding for extended life, GaNFET-based power electronics and an ITAR/EAR-free design — with a production line capable of 200+ thrusters per year. Rocket Lab’s in-space chemical engines, Curie and HyperCurie, also serve as Photon propulsion.

Heritage: Unveiled April 2026; high-volume production line established (>200 units/yr).

The ST-16RT2 is Rocket Lab’s flagship star tracker (Sinclair Interplanetary heritage). It delivers a full lost-in-space attitude solution every frame with zero initial acquisition time, outputting quaternions and rates up to 5 Hz with an on-board star catalogue and corrections for proper motion and stellar aberration. Offered in large- and small-baffle configurations.

Heritage: 164 units on orbit across 3 generations; 525 cumulative years of heritage since 2013.

Announced in April 2023, the ST-16HV is a constellation-class star tracker derived from the heritage ST-16RT2 but re-engineered for high-volume, low-cost manufacturing to meet the short lead-time needs of commercial and government constellation programs. It is produced at the Sinclair-by-Rocket-Lab facility in Toronto alongside the company’s reaction wheels.

Heritage: Announced April 2023; mass-produced in Toronto alongside Rocket Lab reaction wheels.

The RW-0.003 is the smallest in the Sinclair-by-Rocket-Lab vacuum-lubricated reaction wheel family, designed for picosatellites and CubeSats. Each wheel carries a built-in control CPU and is commanded over a serial bus for speed or torque, reporting digital health telemetry.

Heritage: Part of a family with 100+ reaction wheels on orbit.

The RW-0.01 (10 mNms) is a low-voltage Sinclair-by-Rocket-Lab reaction wheel sized for nanosatellites, with a built-in control CPU for speed or torque commanding. It shares a common design lineage with the larger RW-0.03/RW-0.06 wheels.

Heritage: 10 units on orbit on 4 satellites; first launched June 2014.

The RW-0.06 (60 mNms) is a mid-class Sinclair-by-Rocket-Lab reaction wheel with diamond-coated hybrid ball bearings, redundant motor windings, and regenerative braking that returns power to the bus. It supports RS-485 and CAN command/telemetry with ±36 V fault tolerance.

Heritage: 41 units on orbit on 12 satellites; >11 years on orbit.

The RW-0.4 is a microsatellite-class Sinclair-by-Rocket-Lab reaction wheel offered in light-rotor (0.2 Nms) and heavy-rotor (0.4 Nms) variants. Enhanced motor cooling supports high duty cycle as a control-moment-gyro replacement, with hardware triple-modular redundancy on flip-flops and EDAC on RAM.

Heritage: Mechanical design derived from the 1 Nms wheel; first deliveries Q2 2021.

The RW-1.0 (1 Nms) is the largest standard Sinclair-by-Rocket-Lab reaction wheel, for microsatellites up to 1,000+ kg-class spacecraft. Its mechanical design derives from the flight-proven RW3/RW4 wheels and adds galvanically isolated redundant RS-485, hardware TMR, EDAC and regenerative braking.

Heritage: 9 units on orbit; mechanical design from RW3/RW4 with 76+ additional units on orbit.

The SS-411 is a two-axis digital fine sun sensor (Sinclair Interplanetary heritage). A single linear detector array behind a four-slit mask determines the Sun vector in two axes, with embedded processing delivering ~0.1° accuracy across a wide field of view. It is one of the most widely flown micro digital sun sensors, used on nanosatellites and planetary rovers.

Heritage: Long flight pedigree on nanosatellites and planetary rovers.

Rocket Lab’s avionics line includes miniature GPS/GNSS receivers and inertial measurement units (IMUs) used on small satellites, Electron kick stages and the Photon bus — including the deep-space Lunar Photon that navigated NASA’s CAPSTONE to a near-rectilinear halo orbit. These are typically integrated into Rocket Lab’s command-and-data-handling and GN&C suites rather than sold as standalone catalog datasheets.

Heritage: Flown on Electron kick stages and the Photon / Lunar Photon bus (CAPSTONE, 2022).

Frontier-S is a single-board, software-defined S-band telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) radio based on the Johns Hopkins APL Frontier Radio. It packs Deep Space Network and other standard waveforms into a compact, up-screened package, with a coherent transponder for radiometric navigation, precision timekeeping and a hardware critical command decoder. A High-Reliability variant adds enhanced radiation tolerance.

Heritage: Frontier lineage (JHU/APL) with 13+ years of flight heritage.

Frontier-X is a high-speed X-band software-defined TT&C radio based on the JHU/APL Frontier Radio. It supports up to 13.3 Mbps downlink, GEO/deep-space radiation tolerance with no destructive latchup, a coherent transponder for radiometric navigation, precision timekeeping, forward error correction and a hardware critical command decoder. LEO and DSN configurations are offered in Standard and High-Reliability variants.

Heritage: Frontier lineage (JHU/APL); flight-proven on CAPSTONE, Europa Clipper, Parker Solar Probe and more.

The CONDOR Mk3 is a space-grade optical (laser) communications terminal from Mynaric, which Rocket Lab acquired in April 2026. It provides high-throughput inter-satellite, space-to-air and space-to-ground laser links and is compliant with the U.S. Space Development Agency’s Optical Communications Terminal (OCT) standard. It has been delivered in volume for the SDA Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, anchoring Rocket Lab’s move into laser inter-satellite links.

Heritage: 100+ CONDOR Mk3 terminals delivered by mid-2025 for SDA’s PWSA; acquisition closed April 2026.

MAX (Modular, Autonomous, eXtendible) Flight Software is Rocket Lab’s customizable, off-the-shelf flight-software suite (Advanced Solutions, Inc. heritage). Built on a configurable C++ object framework, it provides command and telemetry, intelligent sequencing, fault protection, autonomy and full guidance, navigation and control — paired with the SOLIS/ODySSy simulation tools and MAX GDS ground software for full mission-lifecycle coverage.

Heritage: 80+ missions and ~297 cumulative on-orbit years; flew on CAPSTONE, Blue Ghost M1, ESCAPADE.

The Mark II Motorized Lightband (MLB) is Rocket Lab’s flagship non-pyrotechnic separation system (Planetary Systems Corp heritage). Hinged leaves, springs and a dual-redundant release motor separate the rings with no pyrotechnics or consumables, delivering lower shock and tip-off than clamp-band systems. The line holds a 100% mission-success record across 100+ on-orbit separations since 2006.

Heritage: 100% mission success; hundreds of missions since first flight in 2006 (PSC, acquired 2021).

The Advanced Lightband (ALB) is Rocket Lab’s next-generation non-pyrotechnic separation system for separating stages or payloads. Offered in 8–24 in bolt-circle diameters, it integrates separation springs, switches and connectors with no consumables, is stiffer and stronger than competing systems, and supports integration in under 30 minutes with repeatable separation testing in minutes.

Heritage: Lightband family (PSC heritage, acquired 2021); shares the line’s 100% success record.

Maxwell is Rocket Lab’s in-house carbon-composite CubeSat dispenser, marketed as the industry’s lightest in its class and fully integrated with Electron. It uses a dual separation switch, one-way clutch bearing, in-door hinge for low spin-rate deployment, non-explosive lock and redundant dual-door release. Maxwell is flight-proven across numerous Electron rideshare and dedicated missions.

Heritage: Flight-proven across Electron missions (e.g., 'Baby Come Back', 2023 — NASA Starling/Spire).

The Canisterized Satellite Dispenser (CSD) is Rocket Lab’s (Planetary Systems Corp heritage) reliable, testable deployer for secondary and tertiary CubeSat payloads. It fully encloses the satellite with a tab-based interface; an automatic door-close preloads the tabs and the deployment motor reports voltage/current health feedback, with no pyrotechnics. Published dry masses include 3.32 kg (3U) and 5.65 kg (12U).

Heritage: PSC heritage product (acquired 2021); part of the line with 100% mission success.

Rocket Lab’s space-structures business designs and manufactures carbon-composite spacecraft buses, structural panels, satellite dispensers, aerostructures, heat shields, composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), solar substrates and launch-vehicle structures — both internally and for the broader industry. It builds on Electron (the world’s first carbon-composite orbital rocket) and the Photon bus, anchored by a dedicated Space Structures Complex in Maryland announced in 2023.

Heritage: Builds on Electron (first carbon-composite orbital launch vehicle) and the CAPSTONE Photon bus.

Geost (now Rocket Lab’s Optical Systems division) develops electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensor payloads for U.S. national-security missions — missile warning and tracking, tactical ISR, space domain awareness and Earth observation. Founded in 2004 and based in Tucson, Arizona, Geost was acquired by Rocket Lab in August 2025 for $275M, marking the company’s entry into the satellite payload market as an end-to-end national-security prime.

Heritage: 20+ years of EO/IR flight heritage; contracted for SDA Tracking Layer payloads. Acquired Aug 2025 ($275M).