Rocket Lab unveils GHOST mobile launch system for Electron and HASTE missions
Rocket Lab has developed a containerized launch system called GHOST for its Electron and HASTE rockets, designed to enable operations from locations beyond the company's permanent sites and give military customers more options for orbital and hypersonic test flights.
GHOST, short for Global Hypersonic & Orbital Spaceport Technology, packages all launch-support equipment, including ground hardware and range-control systems, into standard shipping containers that can be transported and set up at new locations.
The infrastructure supports both Electron, the company's small orbital rocket, and HASTE, an Electron-derived suborbital vehicle used to carry hypersonic test articles and other experimental payloads to high speeds and altitudes.
During an Aug. 10 earnings call, Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said GHOST came from a direct "request from a customer" rather than speculation about future demand. He cited strong interest in HASTE and the need "to be able to be a little bit more mobile than we are."
The first GHOST installation will be at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska on Kodiak Island, where Rocket Lab plans to establish two pads under the new Launch Complex 4. The system is expected to make its operational debut there with a suborbital mission in 2027.
The Alaska expansion ties into a $266 million Space Force contract covering 12 suborbital launches, with options for six more. Most of those missions are anticipated to launch from Kodiak.
GHOST is designed to reduce the amount of fixed infrastructure Rocket Lab needs when opening a new launch site. That could benefit military missions requiring different flight trajectories or access to ranges outside the company's existing facilities in New Zealand and Virginia.
For hypersonic testing, operating HASTE from additional ranges could give the Pentagon more flexibility over flight paths and downrange areas rather than concentrating missions at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Rocket Lab also sees potential demand from U.S. allies seeking launch capability without building a conventional permanent spaceport. Moving launch sites can open different orbital inclinations and suborbital trajectories depending on geography.
