Bigger Plans Ahead: Rocket Lab Pushes Venus Mission to 2025

Rocket Lab USA, Inc RKLB postponed its mission to Venus, which the company planned to launch in May.
The mission will likely move ahead no earlier than January 2025, the only publicly stated backup window for launch, TechCrunch cites a company spokesperson.
“Our focus right now is on delivering customer missions as a priority,” the spokesperson said.
Also Read: NASA Turned Him Down So He Built His Own Billion Dollar Rocket Company
Rocket Lab disclosed plans to go to Venus last August, marking its first fully private mission to the yellow planet.
The company will fund the task, while a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other organizations will contribute to the scientific payload.
Rocket Lab plans to use its small Electron rocket and Photon spacecraft to send a very tiny probe to around 30 feet above the surface of Venus.
The probe, measuring just 40 centimeters in diameter, will search for organic chemicals in Venus’s clouds or signs of life and suggest habitable conditions for supporting life.
After spending only five minutes flying through the clouds, the probe will slowly lose altitude until it hits the surface of Venus around an hour after atmospheric entry.
One of the other primary goals of the mission is to mature the high-energy Photon spacecraft further.
The upcoming mission to Mars and Venus in 2025 is likely only the tip of the iceberg for Rocket Lab’s ambitions.
Price Action: RKLB shares are trading higher by 1.05% at $4.79 in premarket on the last check Friday.

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