Vector Launch Inc
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Vector Launch, Inc. (formerly Vector Space Systems) is an American
space technology Space technology is technology for use in outer space. Space technology includes space vehicles such as spacecraft, satellites, space stations and orbital spaceflight, orbital launch vehicles; :Spacecraft communication, deep-space communication; :S ...
company which aims to launch suborbital and orbital payloads. Vector Launch declared bankruptcy in December 2019 and re-emerged in October 2020.


History

The company's first CEO was Jim Cantrell, who co-founded the company with John Garvey, Shaun Coleman, Ken Sunshine, and Eric Besnard. Cantrell had previously helped
Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...
found
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
in 2001. Vector Launch, Inc. received in seed angel funding from entrepreneur Shaun Coleman soon after its foundation in 2016 and additionally $21 million from
Sequoia Capital Sequoia Capital Operations, LLC is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California, specializing in seed stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. the firm had appro ...
,
Shasta Ventures Shasta Ventures is an early-stage venture capital investment firm located in Silicon Valley that invests in enterprise and technology consumer startups. It is located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. Funds Shasta's second fund of US$250 milli ...
and
Lightspeed Venture Partners Lightspeed Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm focusing on seed stage, early stage investments and growth stage investments in the enterprise, fintech, consumer and healthcare sectors. Lightspeed has eleven offices globally and as o ...
in June 2017. It had offices in
Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
, and an engineering facility in
Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...
. In July 2016, Vector acquired Garvey Spacecraft, and began designing rockets based on Garvey's designs. The company was also investing in software capabilities. It had a platform called Galactic Sky, located in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
, which was developing software-defined satellites to provide start-ups and entrepreneurs with satellite capabilities. In 2017, Cantrell signed a letter of intent to collaborate with his son's cryptocurrency company, called Nexus, that was attempting to develop a satellite-supported currency exchange system. In 2016 York Space Systems signed a $60 million launch deal with Vector, to launch six satellites into orbit, which was never funded. By August 2016, Vector had tested hardware in suborbital flight with the launch of its P-20 prototype rocket, as well as atmospheric test flights of the Vector-R from the
Mojave Air and Space Port The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a s ...
in California and
Spaceport Camden Spaceport Camden was a proposed commercial spaceport in Camden County, Georgia, near the city of Woodbine. The site tested the largest solid rocket motor ever fired as part of the Apollo Program and Camden County, Georgia was originally conside ...
in Georgia. By 2017, Vector had announced that it planned to use the LC-46 launch site in Florida for its Vector-R rocket starting in 2018, but did not achieve that target date. Additionally Vector was investigating adding more minimal infrastructure launch pads either located on land in the USA using mobile
semi-trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer (vehicle), trailer without a front axle. The combination of a semi-trailer and a tractor truck is called a ''semi-trailer truck'' (also known simply as a "semi-trailer", "tractor trailer", or "semi" in the United Sta ...
s as
tank truck A tank truck, gas truck, fuel truck, or tanker truck (American English) or tanker (British English) is a motor vehicle designed to carry liquids or gases on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tank cars, which are also desi ...
s and a
transporter erector launcher A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can transport, elevate to a firing position and launch one or more rockets or missiles. History Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles ...
(TEL), or to launch the rocket from barges on the ocean. By February 2018, the company was planning to launch the first orbital flight of the Vector-R in July 2018 from the
Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska The Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA), formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC), is a dual-use commercial and military spaceport for sub-orbital and orbital launch vehicles. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska A ...
. , the first launch of the Vector-H was expected to occur in 2019. On August 7, 2019, the company was awarded its first
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mission, to launch the ASLON-45 spacecraft for $3.4 million. However, the contract was cancelled when the US Air Force determined Vector did not meet minimum requirements for solvency. On August 9, 2019, Cantrell left Vector Launch and John Garvey assumed the role of CEO. The future of the company was left uncertain as it reportedly faced serious financial problems.


Bankruptcy

On December 13, 2019, Vector Launch Inc. and one affiliated company filed
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
in the
United States District Court for the District of Delaware The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the United States district court, Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington, Delaware, ...
. It was revealed that the August layoffs had been precipitated by the withdrawal of financial support by
Sequoia Capital Sequoia Capital Operations, LLC is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California, specializing in seed stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. the firm had appro ...
, one of the company's largest investors, which led other potential investors to back out of an upcoming funding round in a domino effect. Vector has filed a motion with the court for approval to sell its assets pursuant to Section 363 of the US bankruptcy code (a provision that allows for the orderly sale of assets from a bankrupt estate). The
stalking horse bidder A stalking horse offer, agreement, or bid is a bid for a bankrupt firm or its assets that is arranged in advance of an auction to act, in effect, as a reserve bid. The intent is to maximize the value of its assets or avoid low bids, as part of (or ...
is
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
. Lockheed Martin acquired Vector's GalacticSky assets by default after a bankruptcy court received no qualified bids. Another bidder acquired the remaining launch vehicle assets. On October 29, 2020, Vector re-emerged with a new CEO to focus the company on suborbital and orbital flight.


Post-bankruptcy

On October 29, 2020,
Robert Spalding Robert S. Spalding III (born 1966) is a retired United States Air Force brigadier general. He currently serves as a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. His work focuses on U.S.–China relations, economic and national security, and the Asia-P ...
announced that Vector Launch is "focused on suborbital, and eventually orbital flight" and is targeting both the governmental and commercial sectors. On January 11, 2021, Vector's remaining shareholders unanimously voted on a wind down plan. On October 11, 2022, Vector announced their renewed focus on national security related missions as well as the addition of Shaun Coleman, Vector's original investor and former General Manager of GalacticSky to their new board of directors On March 7, 2023, U.S. Rocket engine provider
Ursa Major Technologies Ursa Major Technologies is an American aerospace company founded in 2015 and based in Berthoud, Colorado. The company produces rocket engines and sells them to space launch and hypersonics companies, and the U.S. Government. The company makes a ...
announced that they would supply several 5,000-pound thrust "Hadley" engines to power the main stage of Vector-R launch vehicles to demonstrate capabilities for future national security missions.


Services


Launchers

The company plans to provide launch services with two rockets, the smaller Vector-R, and the larger
Vector-H Vector-H (Vector Heavy) was a planned two-stage or three-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle in development by the American aerospace company Vector Launch to cover the commercial small satellite launch segment (CubeSats). It was planned ...
. Both rockets use a single engine for their second stage and a cluster of engines (three in the Vector-R and six in the Vector-H) for their first stage, all of which use
LOX Lox is a fillet of brined salmon, which may be smoked. Lox is frequently served on a bagel with cream cheese, and often garnished with tomato, onion, cucumber, and capers. Etymology The American English word ''lox'' is a borrowing of Yiddi ...
and
propylene Propylene, also known as propene, is an unsaturated organic compound with the chemical formula . It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. It is a colorless gas with a faint petroleum-like o ...
as propellants. Vector planned to recover the first stage of its rockets for reuse. Other notable design features include a
carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...
structure, some
3D printed 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...
engine parts, minimal infrastructure launch pads, and a fast launch cadence, which the company had hoped to reach 100 launches per year. The first client of Vector was
Iceye ICEYE Ltd. (natively ICEYE Oy) is a Polish-Finnish microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–5 ...
, a company in Finland.


GalacticSky

Vector developed a patented software-defined satellite operating system called GalacticSky so that its planned micro-satellites can run different applications. Managed by Vector's initial investor and co-founder Shaun Coleman GalacticSky was intended to allow customers to quickly test software applications for satellites without having to develop their own hardware. Over 40 patents were issued for GalacticSky and its capabilities Following a lawsuit filed by Vector against Lockheed Martin for violating GalacticSky patents and Vector's bankruptcy, Lockheed Martin expressed interest in acquiring GalacticSky for $2.5 million, assuming no higher bidder appears. Several members of the former GalacticSky team including the primary author of many of its patents and a Vector co-founder, chief sales/marketing officer and SVP/general manager of GalacticSky, Shaun Coleman, former GalacticSky VP of engineering John Metzger, former Vector chief revenue officer, and Lockheed VP of Advanced programs Robert Cleave have since founded NewSpace Networks, a company focused on extending the cloud and making satellite networks more efficient. NewSpace Networks intends to bid for the GalacticSky assets against Lockheed Martin. Ultimately the GalacticSky technology was acquired by Lockheed Martin.


See also

* * * * *
bluShift Aerospace BluShift Aerospace (sometimes stylized as bluShift) is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick, Maine, with a West Coast office in Concord, California, Concord, California. Founded in 2014, the company deve ...


References


External links

* {{Official website, https://vector-launch.com/ Aerospace companies of the United States Commercial launch service providers Defunct spaceflight companies Companies based in Tucson, Arizona Technology companies established in 2016 2016 establishments in Arizona American companies established in 2016 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019