Separation
Systems

Advanced, lightweight hardware
with 100% mission success

 

In 2021 Rocket Lab acquired Planetary Systems Corporation which has designed, built, and delivered separation systems for more than 20 years with a 100% success rate - no product has ever failed to operate in flight. With the scale and resources of Rocket Lab behind the team, we are now making separation systems available globally at scale.

Since 1998, our separation systems have enabled customers to lower their mission costs and streamline payload integration time from days to just minutes.

Our Advanced Lightband is the next generation in space vehicle separation systems. Increasing performance and decreasing lead time.

Our fully-encapsulated Canisterized Satellite Dispensers (CSD) that provides a reliable and cost-effective housing for CubeSat payloads, that minimizes damage risk and eliminates the necessity for heavy or complicated interface structures between satellite and launch vehicle.

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Our Engineering Philosophy

“We build the best separation systems because we don’t compromise on proving reliability. Ours is a history of innovation followed by intense and rewarding engineering to prove reliability. By this method, we contribute our best work.”

Advanced Lightband

The Advanced Lightband is an innovative, lightweight, and compact mechanical separation system used to separate spacecrafts from launch vehicles on orbit. The Advanced Lightband has never failed to separate on orbit for any mission.

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Motorized Lightband

The Mark II Motorized Lightband (MLB) is the original in motorized vehicle separation systems. It boasts a heritage of perfect flight under every condition imaginable.

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Satellite Dispensers

The Canisterized Satellite Dispenser (CSD) is a reliable and cost-effective deployment mechanism for small secondary or tertiary payloads.

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Sub Assemblies & Accessories

Designed by PSC, accessories provide valuable mission and integration functionality, supporting a wide array of in-flight and ground-test applications. Accessories are a valuable tool whenever signal transfer is required across low-force interfaces. All Accessories are NASA Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL-9).

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Flight Heritage

20+ years of flight heritage

Launch Vehicle
Launch Date
Mission
System Size (in, U)
System Type
Organizations
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
8
MLB Mk II
UTIAS
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
15
MLB Mk II
Orbital Sidekick
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
15
MLB Mk II
Orbital Sidekick
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
15
MLB Mk II
Umbra Space
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
8
MLB Mk II
HawkEye 360
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
8
MLB Mk II
HawkEye 360
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
8
MLB Mk II
HawkEye 360
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
15
ALB
Tomorrow.io
Falcon 9
15-Apr-23
Transporter-7
24
MLB Mk II
D-Orbit
Electron
24-Mar-23
The Beat Goes On
11
MLB Mk II
BlackSky Global

*Launch vehicle failed. We count this event as a unit built but not a mission success.