Aerospace startup Rocket Lab had hoped to launch its first rocket in the US last year, but the Dec 18 event was canceled due to weather. The company’s second attempt late on Jan. 24 went off without a hitch. The Electron rocket blasted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Herndon, Virginia, delivering three satellites to orbit.
Rocket Lab was founded in New Zealand in 2006, but it moved to Long Beach, California in 2013, shifting most of its operations to the US in 2020. However, the company was still launching its rockets from New Zealand. This latest mission, jokingly dubbed “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” was Rocket Lab’s 33rd launch of an Electron Rocket. All but three were successful.
Electron is a 59-foot two-stage design intended for light duty, powered by nine Rutherford rocket engines running on liquid oxygen and RP-1 (refined kerosene). These engines are semi-famous in aerospace for being largely 3D printed — SpaceX also uses 3D printing for some components of its SuperDraco engines. Electron is a non-reusable rocket, but Rocket Lab is also experimenting with using a parachute and a helicopter to catch the first stage after launch. It had modest success in early 2022 but hasn’t made another attempt while it worked on moving launch operations to the US.
Whereas a rocket like the SpaceX Falcon 9 can hoist thousands of pounds into a high orbit, Electron has a payload capacity of just under 500 pounds (225 kilograms) to low-Earth orbit. That’s enough mass to deploy a handful of small satellites, which is what Rocket Lab accomplished in this week’s first US-based launch. The rocket carried three Earth-observation satellites for HawkEye 360, a company that uses radio-frequency analysis to track RF sources on the surface.
Rocket Lab doesn’t have the scale of SpaceX, which enjoys a raft of government contracts for ongoing Falcon 9 launches, as well as the upcoming Starship rocket. However, Rocket Lab has plans for more capable launch platforms. The company announced its Neutron rocket in 2021 with about a third of the capacity of a Falcon 9. It recently started assembling Neutron rockets near the Wallops Island launch complex. Neutron is designed to be reusable, with an eye toward deploying constellations of satellites, something that may not please the astronomical community.
Now read:
- This Adorable Little Rocket Just Reached Space for the First Time
- Rocket Lab’s Upcoming Reusable Rocket Is Designed for Deploying Mega-Constellations
- New Video Offers a Better View of Rocket Lab’s Helicopter-Catching Rocket
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