New Zealand satellite company to digitalise with Siemens tech

Siemens has announced that Rocket Lab, a New Zealand-based aerospace manufacturer and the world’s leading small satellite launch service, will start using Siemens software to scale up production and continue its growth trajectory. To date, the company has launched 40 satellites to space and is expanding services.

Rocket Lab plans to implement Siemens industrial software to help digitally manage the lifecycle needs of the business. The software is from the Xcelerator range, which is from Siemens Digital Industries Software and includes Teamcenter digital lifecycle management software, and NX software for computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing.

This announcement comes as Rocket Lab prepares to integrate all its design, engineering and production systems to establish an end-to-end digital thread that enables increased transparency and efficiency across various offices.

Speaking on the decision, Rocket Lab’s Vice President of Global Operations, Shaun O’Donnell, said, “As we’ve grown, so has our production capacity and the platforms associated with various products and processes. Using Teamcenter, we’ll be able to combine various aspects of data related to the same part, assembly and system to maintain a single source of truth across the lifecycle of the product. Also, as we grow, NX will give our designers increased performance and stability to cope with larger assemblies.

“Investing in the right digital platforms that allow us to easily scale with growth is critical to the sustainability of our business. With offices around the world, we rely heavily on the access of relevant information that impacts the efficiencies of our production processes.”

“The space race is becoming increasingly important globally, as well as here in Australia and New Zealand,” said Samantha Murray, Managing Director of Siemens Digital Industries Software in the region. “While the real race will be played out way above us, here the pillars driving competitiveness will be digital and dependent on how technologies support access to global supply chains.

“When you are responsible for sending millions of dollars’ worth of equipment hurtling into space, you want to ensure it’s been designed leveraging the same benchmark technology trusted by top aerospace companies worldwide.

“Rocket Lab is a progressive company with some incredible talent and a bold vision. We’re thrilled that they’ve chosen Siemens software to help with their next phase of growth,” she added.

Rocket Lab will use Siemens solutions across the product lifecycle including for CAD management, BOM and configuration management, engineering change and document management.