Sinclair Interplanetary (Rocket Lab)

Founded in 2001 by Doug Sinclair, Sinclair Interplanetary is a Toronto, Canada-based supplier of high-reliability attitude control hardware, software, training and expertise to the spacecraft community, with a primary focus on low-cost, rapid-schedule programs to produce micro- and nano-satellites.

Sinclair Interplanetary pioneered vacuum-lubricated reaction wheels for picosatellites, nanosatellites and microsatellites, and builds high-performance star trackers and sun-baffles for small spacecraft. Its reaction wheel and star tracker product lines have well over 100 units on orbit across dozens of missions, including the SkySat constellation, the BRITE nanosatellite constellation, GHGSat-D and GHGSat-C, the Landmapper-BC series, BlackSky Global satellites, ALE-1/2, Momentus X-1 and NEMO-HD, among others. All wheels and trackers incorporate a built-in digital processor, are commanded over a serial bus, and report digital telemetry on speed, temperature, voltage, current and other health parameters.

Rocket Lab acquired Sinclair Interplanetary in April 2020 for an undisclosed sum, integrating the team into Rocket Lab's Space Systems business while keeping operations and production in Toronto. The Toronto facility has since expanded to support higher-volume constellation manufacturing alongside continued development and sale of reaction wheels and star trackers. Some previously Sinclair-developed subsystems, such as magnetic torque rods and digital sun sensors, have since been licensed out to other manufacturers (Spaceflight Industries/BlackSky and NewSpace Systems respectively) and are no longer sold directly by Sinclair/Rocket Lab.