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#440
by
Danderman
on 04 Feb, 2016 21:11
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Sounds like an interesting discussion, but is happening with this company?
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#441
by
QuantumG
on 04 Feb, 2016 21:48
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#442
by
TrevorMonty
on 05 Feb, 2016 00:19
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Cool artwork, is it painted or computer generated?
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#443
by
c4fusion
on 06 Feb, 2016 06:10
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Apparently this is "fan art" but RocketLab shared it.
I, for one, look forward to watching the grass fires.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/Solarexploration/
Well, they want to give themselves a 'green' image. But in seriousness, this is probably just for the picture as their official images seem to show a lot less grass.
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#444
by
TrevorMonty
on 14 Feb, 2016 00:54
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#445
by
TrevorMonty
on 26 Feb, 2016 09:54
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Rocket Lab announced today that Garrett Katzenstein has joined the company as Vice President of Product and Mission Management. Katzenstein will oversee customer experience from point of sale through vehicle integration and successful launch.
Katzenstein was most recently the Senior Manager for Mission and Launch Operations at SpaceX.
http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=48022
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#446
by
jamesh9000
on 08 Mar, 2016 02:17
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Small update: they still seem to be holding to timetable for the launch site, and still saying "mid 2016" for the first launch, although my money would be on "late 2016":
Wairoa District Council is "aggressively" pursuing a bid for the district to be the base of a manufacturing facility for United States-based company Rocket Lab.
The company hopes to complete construction of New Zealand's first commercial rocket launch site on Mahia Peninsula this month, with a target to complete infrastructure and commissioning in late April.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11600621
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#447
by
chalz
on 22 Mar, 2016 06:16
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#448
by
QuantumG
on 23 Mar, 2016 00:37
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Rocket Lab's Rutherford Engine has been qualified for flight after the completion of a rigorous test program. The Rutherford engine has been created by Rocket Lab specifically for the Electron launch vehicle. As the first oxygen/hydrocarbon engine to use additive manufacturing for all primary components of the combustor and propellant supply system, the qualification of this engine is a major milestone for 3D printing. Check out the video below to see the Rutherford in action.
https://vimeo.com/160032981#at=0Rocket Lab today announced its Rutherford Engine has been qualified for flight after the completion of a rigorous test program.
The 5,000 lbf Rutherford engine was created by Rocket Lab specifically for the company’s Electron launch vehicle. Rutherford has been tested extensively for over two years, and was qualified for flight after completing more than two hundred engine hot fires. The engine will first be flown during the Electron test program scheduled to run throughout the second half of 2016.
The qualification of the engine is a major milestone for 3D printing; Rutherford is the first oxygen/hydrocarbon engine to use additive manufacturing for all primary components of the combustor and propellant supply system. Rutherford also has a unique electric propulsion cycle, making use of high-performance brushless DC electric motors and lithium polymer batteries to drive its turbopumps.
Electron uses nine Rutherford engines on its first stage, and a vacuum variant of the same engine on its second stage. The vehicle is capable of delivering a 150kg payload to a 500km sun-synchronous orbit, the target range for the high-growth constellation-satellite market.
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#449
by
Prober
on 26 Mar, 2016 13:12
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#450
by
TrevorMonty
on 31 Mar, 2016 00:07
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Rocket lab looking at using Electron as upper stage of DARPA XS1.
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/03/30/darpa-sbir-awards-xs1-rocket-technologies/Low Cost Expendable Launch Technology
Rocket Lab USA, Inc.
Frederick, Colo.
Program: DARPA SBIR Phase I
Year: 2015
Amount: $99,964
Principal Investigator: Bradley J Schneider
Description
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. proposes to develop and demonstrate how the use of the Electron launch vehicle either as an upper stage in support of the XS-1 program or dedicated small launch vehicle could employ the use of Automated Flight Termination (AFTS) technologies to reduce the cost of access to space without adversely impacting public safety. Providing the launch opportunity to obtain flight telemetry from Rocket Lab’s initial test flight will enable the development of a ruggedized AFTS for future DARPA, NASA and commercial launch campaigns.
Novel Propellant, High-
- See more at:
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/03/30/darpa-sbir-awards-xs1-rocket-technologies/#sthash.wvr3JYuy.r4dM3B2P.dpuf
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#451
by
jongoff
on 31 Mar, 2016 00:25
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Rocket lab looking at using Electron as upper stage of DARPA XS1.
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/03/30/darpa-sbir-awards-xs1-rocket-technologies/
Low Cost Expendable Launch Technology
Rocket Lab USA, Inc.
Frederick, Colo.
Program: DARPA SBIR Phase I
Year: 2015
Amount: $99,964
Principal Investigator: Bradley J Schneider
Description
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. proposes to develop and demonstrate how the use of the Electron launch vehicle either as an upper stage in support of the XS-1 program or dedicated small launch vehicle could employ the use of Automated Flight Termination (AFTS) technologies to reduce the cost of access to space without adversely impacting public safety. Providing the launch opportunity to obtain flight telemetry from Rocket Lab’s initial test flight will enable the development of a ruggedized AFTS for future DARPA, NASA and commercial launch campaigns.
Novel Propellant, High-
- See more at: http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/03/30/darpa-sbir-awards-xs1-rocket-technologies/#sthash.wvr3JYuy.r4dM3B2P.dpuf
Note that this was a feasibility study award from a year ago sometime. Does anyone know if Phase II announcements have been made for this batch of Phase Is? I don't often end up proposing to DoD SBIR/STTR solicitations.
~Jon
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#452
by
savuporo
on 31 Mar, 2016 03:05
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What were the nine most terrifying words in English language again? I think for space startups it goes something like: here is a contract from government, it's here to help
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#453
by
jongoff
on 31 Mar, 2016 05:28
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What were the nine most terrifying words in English language again? I think for space startups it goes something like: here is a contract from government, it's here to help.
Rocketlab has been doing contracts for the government for years. It's what allowed them to bootstrap far enough to convince investors to fund them to develop Electron. If you don't start out with several $M yourself, it's pretty much one of the only ways to get to a point where you can raise money to develop a commercial product, especially if there is technology development that needs to happen to bring the product to market. It sucks, but it sucks less than not being able to try at all.
~Jon
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#454
by
TrevorMonty
on 31 Mar, 2016 07:44
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There a few possibilities for Electron as XS1 upstage.
1) use booster only with a few vacuum engines (3-4?) for LEO payloads
2) use same booster plus current Electron US for BLEO payloads. Would be perfect for Moon express landers.
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#455
by
CameronD
on 01 Apr, 2016 00:49
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What were the nine most terrifying words in English language again? I think for space startups it goes something like: here is a contract from government, it's here to help.
Rocketlab has been doing contracts for the government for years. It's what allowed them to bootstrap far enough to convince investors to fund them to develop Electron. If you don't start out with several $M yourself, it's pretty much one of the only ways to get to a point where you can raise money to develop a commercial product, especially if there is technology development that needs to happen to bring the product to market. It sucks, but it sucks less than not being able to try at all.
Maybe it's just me, but whenever someone mentions Rocketlab Electron, I can't help thinking of the previous use of the name:
Teignmouth Electron.. and that didn't end well at all.
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#456
by
The Amazing Catstronaut
on 01 Apr, 2016 12:43
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Maybe it's just me, but whenever someone mentions Rocketlab Electron, I can't help thinking of the previous use of the name: Teignmouth Electron.. and that didn't end well at all.
As someone who regularly/regrettably visits the decrepit seaside town of Teignmouth, UK, after which said boat was partially named, I can emphatically tell you that it's the 'Teignmouth' part of the name that doomed that particular vessel to failure, and not the 'Electron' part.
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#457
by
Kryten
on 14 Apr, 2016 00:05
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#458
by
jamesh9000
on 06 May, 2016 11:15
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#459
by
savuporo
on 06 May, 2016 16:12
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Here's a terrible quality, grainy picture of the launch site Electron will take off from, still under construction:
That would be about here :
https://goo.gl/maps/cF3wHJXAnbT2
