10.10.2024

An image of Santa Cruz hill on the surface of Mars taken by Perseverance Mars rover with Mastcam-Z. Photo / Nasa

The Kiwi-American firm revealed this morning Nasa chose it to complete a study into retrieving rock samples from the surface of Mars and returning them to Earth – something never done before.

It’s a modest contract, with huge potential, according to the firm.

“The study contract is US$625,000 [$1.02 million]. The opportunity should the study concepts be progressed is in the billions,” Rocket Lab marketing and communications vice-president Morgan Connaughton told the Herald.

Rocket Lab’s study will explore a simplified, end-to-end mission concept that would be delivered for a fraction of the current projected programme cost and completed several years earlier than the current expected sample return date in 2040, the firm says.

Meanwhile, there has been a snag with Rocket Lab’s first Mars mission, Nasa’s Escapade.

The US space agency commissioned Rocket Lab to design and build two spacecraft to orbit the Red Planet and study its atmosphere, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to launch the satellites and ferry them to Mars on one of its New Glenn rockets.

An Illustration of Rocket Lab's twin spacecraft entering Mars’ orbit for Nasa's Escapade mission. Image/ James, Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab did its part, completing the satellites (dubbed Blue and Gold) then shipping them to Cape Canaveral in August, ready for launch this month.

But on September 6, Nasa said it would not fuel the two Escapade spacecraft because of Blue Origin delays that would cause the mission to miss its October launch window.

Nasa now has to wait for Earth and Mars to return to an optimal alignment for a launch, which won’t be until autumn next year.

Rocket Lab has not put a value on its Escapade work, but Nasa’s total budget for the mission has been estimated at US$79m, including US$55m for the New Glenn launch.

Rocket Lab shares were at US$9.68 in late trading, for a US$4.8b market cap, valuing founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck’s 10.5% stake at US$504m ($819m).

Its Nasdaq-listed stock is up 109% for the year, if still below its 2021 listing price (US$10.00).