Site options Rocket Lab announced on 1 July 2015 that it had selected
Kaitorete Spit in New Zealand's
South Island near
Canterbury as the site of the launch facility for its
Electron rocket, and that it hoped to have construction finished by the end of the year. While the site would not permit equatorial launches due to the presence of
Banks Peninsula to the east, it was favourable for
Sun-synchronous orbital flights, which the company believed would be of primary interest to its customers. The site was also logistically favourable as the company wanted to build a rocket production facility in nearby
Christchurch. The
Māhia Peninsula site at Onenui Station was mentioned in August 2015 as a possible second launch facility. It had first been visited by company officials in April 2015 as part of their initial scouting for launch sites, and were preparing to submit a
resource consent application. with the
Gisborne Chamber of Commerce and the Eastland Community Trust working with Rocket Lab to support its bid for the Mahia site.
Decision for Mahia On 23 November 2015, Rocket Lab stated that the Māhia Peninsula site would be the priority launch facility because of delays in
obtaining resource consents for developing at Kaitorete Spit. The company said that efforts would continue to gain consent for a launch pad on Kaitorete Spit due to its logistical superiority and the foreseen need for additional facilities, but that the Mahia site offered superior launch corridor and flight rate opportunities because of its geographical location and relatively sparse air traffic. A license was granted for the Mahia site with a maximum launch rate of once every 72 hours over a period of 30 years, while the Kaitorete site would only have been licensed to launch once per month. The company broke ground at Mahia in December 2015, and by June 2016 most of the infrastructure work had been completed, including upgrades to roads and internet services, and work was progressing on the electrical, mechanical and communications infrastructure. The Māhia Peninsula site, named Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, was officially opened on 26 September 2016 (
UTC) in a ceremony presided over by
Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce. It was attended by approximately 240 people, including company employees, local landowners, and then
Labour Party leader
Andrew Little. While lift-off from Launch Complex 1 was successful, the rocket failed to reach its intended
Sun-synchronous orbit, only making it to about . The second launch from the
launch pad was made 21 January 2018 at 01:43 UTC, successfully making it to orbit. The Electron rocket, named "Still Testing", carried a Dove Pioneer satellite for
Planet Labs, two Lemur-2 satellites for
Spire Global and the
Humanity Star.
Pad B On 19 December 2019, Rocket Lab announced that they had begun construction on a second pad at LC-1, known as LC-1B (at ) to meet increased launch rates. As of April 2020, the construction was expected to be completed by the end of 2020. It was used for the first time to launch the mission "The Owl's Night Continues" for
Synspective on 28 February 2022. == See also ==