Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is a US aerospace corporation with a New Zealand subsidiary.^[2] Rocket Lab's mission is to develop lightweight, cost-effective commercial rocket launch services. The Electron Program was founded on the premise that small payloads such as CubeSats require dedicated small launch vehicles and flexibility not currently offered by traditional rocket systems. Electron, Rocket Lab's lightweight launch vehicle, is designed to service the small satellite market with dedicated, high-frequency launch opportunities. Electron is designed to deliver payloads of 150 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit.

The Electron test program began in May 2017,^[3][4] with commercial flights announced by the company to occur later in 2017 at a starting price of US$4.9 million.^[5]

History

Rocket Lab was founded in 2006 by New Zealander Peter Beck, the company's CEO and CTO.^[1] Internet entrepreneur Mark Rocket was the seed investor and co-director from 2007 to 2011.^[6] In 2009, Rocket Lab claimed it had become the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space^[7] with the Ātea-1 sounding rocket. The payload was not recovered. This was not deemed necessary. As an instrumentation dart, the payload was not powered; its trajectory depended only on the boost phase of flight. The boost stage was recovered, and did have flight telemetry, on which the claim of reaching space was based.

In December 2010, Rocket Lab was awarded a U.S. government contract from the Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) to study a low cost space launcher to place nanosatellites into orbit.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Funding was obtained from Khosla Ventures in 2013,^[12] and Callaghan Innovation and Bessemer Venture Partners in 2014.^[13][14] In March 2017, the company announced that it had raised an additional US$75 million in a Series D equity round led by Data Collective with participation by Promus Ventures and several previous investors.^[15]

Ātea-1

The first launch of the Ātea-1 (Māori for 'space') suborbital sounding rocket occurred in late 2009.^[16] The 6-metre (20 ft) long rocket weighing 60 kg was designed to carry a 2 kg payload to an altitude of 120 km.^[17] It was intended to carry scientific payloads or possibly personal items.^[18][19]

Ātea-1 was successfully launched from Great Mercury Island near the Coromandel Peninsula on 30 November 2009 at 2:30 pm after fueling problems delayed the scheduled 7:10 am liftoff.^[20] The rocket was tracked by GPS uplink to the INMARSAT-B communications satellite, which permitted verification of payload apogee above the Kármán line; it touched down approximately 50km downrange.

The payload had no telemetry downlink, but had instrumentation including the launch vehicle's uplink to INMARSAT. Payload was not required to be recovered, being only a dart, and the company advised that should it be encountered by vessels at sea, the payload should not be handled as it was "potentially hazardous" and contained delicate instruments. However, performance characteristics were completely determined by the boost stage, which did have downlink telemetry and was recovered.

A second launch of Ātea-1 was not attempted.

Electron

Electron is a two-stage launch vehicle which uses Rocket Lab's Rutherford liquid engines on both stages. The vehicle is capable of delivering payloads of 150 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit,^[21] the target range for the growing small satellite market. The projected cost is less than US$5 million per launch.^[22]

The Rutherford engine uses pumps that are uniquely powered by battery-powered electric motors rather than a gas generator, expander, or preburner.^[23] The engine is also fabricated largely by 3D printing, via electron beam melting,^[24] whereby layers of metal powder are melted in a high vacuum by an electron beam rather than a laser.

As of April 2016, the 22 kN (5,000 lbf) Rutherford engine for the second stage passed its firing tests.^[4][25] The first test flight took place on 25 May 2017 at 04:20 UTC from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island.^[26] The rocket entered space but did not reach orbit.^[27]

Launch Complex 1

After encountering difficulty in obtaining resource consent for the Kaitorete Spit launch site,^[28] Rocket Lab announced in November 2015 that its primary launch site would be on the Mahia Peninsula, east of Wairoa in the North Island, New Zealand.^[29] The site is licensed to launch rockets every 72 hours for 30 years.^[30] The Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 was officially opened on 26 September 2016 (UTC; 27 September NZDT).^[31]

References

External links

• RocketLabUSA.com