Rocket Lab, already highly successful with its rocket designs and launch programme, has introduced to the market a new concept for satellite design, which it calls “Flatellite”.

The New Zealand (and New York)-based business says the new concept is designed for mass manufacture and specifically designed for large constellations of satellites. The move also reinforces Rocket Lab’s aim to be an end-to-end space company.

Rocket Lab explained: “A scalable, long-life, high-power, stackable satellite, Flatellite enables secure, low-latency, high-speed connectivity and remote sensing capability for national security, defense, and commercial markets. Flatellite employs a low-profile, stackable structure to maximise the number of satellites that can be deployed per launch and has seamless integration with Rocket Lab’s own Neutron rocket.”

The Flatellite concept integrates Rocket Lab’s heritage components and subsystems, including propulsion, flight software, avionics, reaction wheels, star trackers, separation system, solar arrays, radios, composite structures, fuel tanks, and more. This approach enables rapid, high-volume production of Flatellite without compromising performance or reliability.

“The need for large, reliable satellite constellations continues to grow across defense and commercial markets. The industry is hungry for versatile satellites that are affordable and built fast in high volumes. This is why we created Flatellite,” commented Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck. “Flatellite is more than just a new product developed to serve our customers’ ever-evolving needs. It’s a bold, strategic move toward completing the final step in Rocket Lab’s ultimate vision of being a truly end-to-end space company, operating its own constellation and delivering services from space. By having our own rides to space with Neutron and Electron and being able to build our own spacecraft in high volumes, we’re at a distinct advantage when it comes to deploying constellations with speed and cost-efficiency.”