Rocket Lab on March 2 said it has completed a new round of financing with its existing investors and Bessemer Venture Partners and will receive a strategic investment from Lockheed Martin [LMT] to support the exploration of future aerospace technologies.
Rocket Lab, which is based in the United States and includes a New Zealand subsidiary where Electron is being designed, said it will use the new funding to complete its Electron launch vehicle system and plans to begin operations as a commercial launch provider as early as 2016. The size of the investments, which also include existing investors Khosla Ventures and K1W1 Ltd., was not disclosed.
“Lockheed Martin pursues technology investments that help us keep pace with innovation across the industry,” Ned Allen, the company’s chief scientist, said in a statement. “Rocket Lab’s work could have application in a number of aerospace domains and we look forward to working with them to complement our overall efforts in small lift capabilities and hypersonic flight technologies.”
In an interview with New Zealand’s The Dominion Post, Rocket Lab Chief Peter Beck said Lockheed Martin’s investment is going toward Electron and other “‘strategic joint programs.'”
As part of Bessemer’s funding, partner David Cowan has joined Rocket Lab’s board of directors.
Electron is an all carbon-composite vehicle aimed at launching small satellites to commercial orbit at low-cost and high frequency. Rocket Labs said it will reveal more details about Electron at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., in April.