Rocket Lab's Modest Launch Is Giant Leap For Small Rocket Business (nytimes.com) 36
Reader Iwastheone shares a report: A small rocket from a little-known company lifted off Sunday from the east coast of New Zealand, carrying a clutch of tiny satellites. That modest event -- the first commercial launch by a U.S.-New Zealand company known as Rocket Lab -- could mark the beginning of a new era in the space business, where countless small rockets pop off from spaceports around the world. This miniaturization of rockets and spacecraft places outer space within reach of a broader swath of the economy.
The rocket, called the Electron, is a mere sliver compared to the giant rockets that Elon Musk, of SpaceX, and Jeffrey P. Bezos, of Blue Origin, envisage using to send people into the solar system. It is just 56 feet tall and can carry only 500 pounds into space. But Rocket Lab is aiming for markets closer to home. "We're FedEx," said Peter Beck, the New Zealand-born founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab. "We're a little man that delivers a parcel to your door." Behind Rocket Lab, a host of start-up companies are also jockeying to provide transportation to space for a growing number of small satellites. The payloads include constellations of telecommunications satellites that would provide the world with ubiquitous internet access.
The payload of this mission, which Rocket Lab whimsically named "It's Business Time," offered a glimpse of this future: two ship-tracking satellites for Spire Global; a small climate- and environment-monitoring satellite for GeoOptics; a small probe built by high school students in Irvine, Calif., and a demonstration version of a drag sail that would pull defunct satellites out of orbit.
The rocket, called the Electron, is a mere sliver compared to the giant rockets that Elon Musk, of SpaceX, and Jeffrey P. Bezos, of Blue Origin, envisage using to send people into the solar system. It is just 56 feet tall and can carry only 500 pounds into space. But Rocket Lab is aiming for markets closer to home. "We're FedEx," said Peter Beck, the New Zealand-born founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab. "We're a little man that delivers a parcel to your door." Behind Rocket Lab, a host of start-up companies are also jockeying to provide transportation to space for a growing number of small satellites. The payloads include constellations of telecommunications satellites that would provide the world with ubiquitous internet access.
The payload of this mission, which Rocket Lab whimsically named "It's Business Time," offered a glimpse of this future: two ship-tracking satellites for Spire Global; a small climate- and environment-monitoring satellite for GeoOptics; a small probe built by high school students in Irvine, Calif., and a demonstration version of a drag sail that would pull defunct satellites out of orbit.
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LOL (Score:2)
Since when is FedEx the "little guy"?
Useless (Score:1)
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Riiiiiiiiiiight... how's your medication?
"It's business time" (Score:2)
Hilarious :) no doubt named after the kiwi song - https://flightoftheconchords.b... [bandcamp.com]
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They really should have launched Wednesday" [youtu.be]...
FedEx... Time to bring back ICBM numbers in our .sig's :)
Tiny cheap satellites (Score:1)
Because we don't have enough spacejunk already.
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Finally! (Score:2)
"This miniaturization of rockets and spacecraft places outer space within reach of a broader swath of the economy. "
Now the drug cartels can use their own satellites to spy on the border in real-time.
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"This miniaturization of rockets and spacecraft places outer space within reach of a broader swath of the economy. "
Now the drug cartels can use their own satellites to spy on the border in real-time.
There is a book about it. Ignore the cover art.
https://www.amazon.com/Kings-H... [amazon.com]
The FedEx analogy is apt (Score:5, Insightful)
Rocket Lab is offering the "Overnight" equivalent option where you can get your payload in orbit much faster, but at greater cost. Will be interesting if there is indeed a economically market for this. Are we going to see school PTA's pulling $50k fundraisers to get the science class' cubesat in orbit?
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Probably not - because $50k won't buy a launch. (A launch costs $5 million.) Just as with small payloads today, they'll have to wait to hitch a ride on someone else's launch.
Coolest part - electric turbopumps (Score:5, Interesting)
On the plus side: you avoid a huge amount of complexity by ditching the preburner (and its part count, weight, fuel-oxidizer separation issues, temperature extremes). You also have very precise and immediate throttle control. On the downside, you have to carry a sizable battery pack, which has much lower energy density.
I don't know if their approach will scale up particularly well, but at this scale it certainly seems like a win. And, if nothing else, it is encouraging to see companies trying new approaches.
Re:Coolest part - electric turbopumps (Score:4, Interesting)
Not just the turbopumps, the entire rocket is made out of carbon fiber composite. Being a company from New Zealand, RocketLab does have access to some pretty interesting research.
(The engine is also 3D printed, but I don't think that's anything new as SpX also does the same for the Merlin IIRC)
Unfortunately, while the rocket is light and the turbopumps can throttle faster, the Electron is still thrown away. I really hope they can plan some recovery plans, but it looks like it isn't on the roadmap for now.
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The Electron gets around this (to an extent), by jettisoning part of the battery pack during ascent. (But if jettisoning fails, the mission fails...)
Just what we need (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh great! An easier way to put more things into orbit. There are a couple of companies planning to put thousands and thousands of satellites into orbit for Internet access. Now all of these companies are starting up to let just about anyone to put their own satellite into orbit. Sure, they will fall out of orbit eventually but low Earth orbit is going to get very crowded in the near future.
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Rocket Lab is a California company, with a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary. Not exactly New Zealand innovation, just collaboration.
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New Zealand innovation, California money.
According to Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]: Founded 2006 in New Zealand by a New Zealander, and funded by another New Zealander. They launched a sounding rocket in 2009, proving their rocket design. First outside funding mentioned was in 2013. (I take no responsibility for Wikipedia's potted history being complete or accurate.)
I'm sure that once the money came along, so did extra expertise, so it isn't 100% New Zealand innovation, but that is where the big steps were taken.
Crowded market (Score:2)
There are many companies hoping to compete in this market. Starting from this wikipedia page [wikipedia.org], I find
(rocket, company, country, first or planned first launch date, payload to low Earth orbit)
Operational:
Kuaizhou 1A [wikipedia.org], ExPace, China, 2017, 300kg
Electron [wikipedia.org], Rocket Lab, New Zealand and USA, 2018, 225kg
Zhuque-1 [wikipedia.org], Landspace Technology, China, 2018, 300kg
In development:
OS-M2 [wikipedia.org], OneSpace, China, 2018, 205kg
Vector-R [wikipedia.org], Vector Launch, USA, 2018, 60kg
Vector-H [wikipedia.org], Vector Launch, USA, 2019, 160kg
SSLV [wikipedia.org], ISRO, India, 2019, 500kg
Bloost [wikipedia.org]
grapefruit (Score:2)
As Khrushchev said
It's Business Time (Score:2)