New Zealand-based rocket company Rocket Lab, which was recently granted permission to launch from a remote part of the Canterbury coast, has signed a deal with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
A test launch by Rocket Lab. Photo: SUPPLIED / Rocket Lab
The agreement means customers wanting to launch satellites into space will have the option of either using Kaitorete Spit, near the township of Birdlings Flat, or Cape Canaveral, in Florida.
The company said it enabled it to use NASA's personnel, facilities and equipment for launch efforts closer to the equator, but its primary launch site would remain in Canterbury.
NASA director of launch services Jim Norman said the deal showed it was committed to promoting the continued evolution of the US commercial space launch market.
Rocket Lab aims to reduce the cost of reaching space and hopes to create rockets that cost less than $7 million to launch.
Its first launch is planned for later this year.