Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB) announced on Wednesday that its next Electron launch will deploy the STP-S30 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. The company said it is accelerating the “Don’t Be Such A Square” launch of the mission by several months to a launch window that began at 12:00 a.m. earlier in the day.
Led by the Department of War’s Space Test Program and the Rocket Systems Launch Program, the STP-S30 mission will deploy the first four DiskSats to space. The disk-shaped spacecraft platforms were developed by The Aerospace Corporation, managed by the SSC’s System Delta 89 Capability Development Branch, and funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems program. Electron will deliver these DiskSats to a 550 km low Earth orbit where Aerospace Corporation will test their maneuverability, launch dispenser mechanism, and orbit-changing capabilities using electric propulsion, which were called key features for flexible, responsive space operations.
The launch is scheduled to liftoff from Rocket Lab (RKLB) Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia. Notably, the launch is also scheduled to take place less than a month after Rocket Lab’s (RKLB) most recent LC-2 launch, which was the first of two missions Rocket Lab recently deployed within 48 hours from two different hemispheres. “Don’t Be Such A Square” will be Electron’s 20th launch of the year and 78th mission overall.
Shares of Rocket Lab (RKLB) rose 2.4% in premarket trading. The rocket launch stock is up more than 116% on a year-to-date basis.