Rocket Lab Launcher

looking into concept
it makes sense that they use carbon fibre to build Neutron
Neutron is much smaller as Starship/Superheavy, who build for cheap Steel.
So the construction cost will not be so high.
the Neutron empty mass will be very low, this allow interesting Aerodynamic glide on return.
it's more of a Lifting Body, in contrast of the ballistic returning Falcon 9 stage
This could allow grater cross range glide for return to Launch site compare to a Falcon 9.
 
There is one point in their presentation subject to caution: achieving a vertical landing without much ground clearance. As we are able to guess now, judging from their cinematic display, the landing is not realistic without cutting engine power from a certain height (inferior to a dozen meters). I understand that their intend is for absorbing all the shock and accelerations involved with shock absorbers but that doesn't take into account any asymmetry in the landing attitude or wind gusts.

For something that should be refurbished in 24hr, they might get some surprises there.

Also the nose cone petal opening need a cautious design to be perfectly symmetrical and reliable.
 
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TomcatViP said:
There is one point in their presentation subject to caution: achieving a vertical landing without much ground clearance. As we are able to guess now, judging from their cinematic display, the landing is not realistic without cutting engine power from a certain height (inferior to a dozen meters). I understand that their intend is for absorbing all the shock and accelerations involved with shock absorbers but that doesn't take into account any asymmetry in the landing attitude or wing gusts.

For something that should be refurbished in 24hr, they might get some surprises there.

Also the nose cone petal opening need a cautious design to be perfectly symmetrical and reliable.
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They wouldn't be opening it until they were in, effectively, no atmosphere. At that point, whether symmetrical or not, it really wouldn't matter.
 
Roll and yaw ;) (think at the speed and the effect of a momentum change)
Explosive bolts give you an instantaneous separation where then both objects have their independent momentum conservation law (but for any impacts). Here, it is not the case and every variation involves thrust correction and trajectory alterations.
 
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Update on the Rocket Lab private mission to Venus. It will be a Venus Life Finder mission:


Second mission for 2026 is already being planned.

news.mit.edu

“Newer, nimbler, faster:” Venus probe will search for signs of life in clouds of sulfuric acid

MIT announced the first of a series of privately funded space probes that will use specially designed laser equipment to examine the composition of the atmosphere on Venus to determine if microbial life can exist in its clouds of sulfuric acid.
news.mit.edu news.mit.edu
 
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the Company got new logo

FL1IXxNVkAAOl5H
 
LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab”), a leading launch and space systems company, has announced today that during its next Electron launch, a commercial rideshare mission currently scheduled in April 2022, the company will attempt a mid-air helicopter capture of the Electron launch vehicle for the first time.
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www.businesswire.com

Rocket Lab to Attempt First Mid-Air Helicopter Capture of the Electron Rocket During Next Mission

Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab”), a leading launch and space systems company, has announced today that during its next Electron launc
www.businesswire.com
 
Not quite. They got the grab but then dropped it due to "unexpected load characteristics" whatever that means.
 
Shows that even now you cannot simulate every eventuality over reality.

Rocket Lab declared success in its effort to catch an Electron booster in midair after launch May 2, even though the helicopter had to release the booster moments later.

The Electron rocket lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 6:49 p.m. Eastern after a brief hold in the countdown. The rocket’s ascent went as planned, with the kick stage, carrying a payload of 34 smallsats, reaching orbit about 10 minutes later.
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spacenews.com

Rocket Lab launches smallsats, catches but drops booster - SpaceNews

Rocket Lab declared success in its effort to catch an Electron booster in midair, even though the helicopter had to release the booster moments later.
spacenews.com spacenews.com
 
A NASA lunar cubesat mission is now scheduled to launch in late May on a Rocket Lab Electron after resolving issues with the rocket’s kick stage.

In a call with reporters after the May 2 launch of an Electron rocket carrying 34 smallsats, Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said that the next Electron mission will be of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) cubesat for NASA. He did not give a date for the launch.
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Once launched, CAPSTONE will take four months to go into a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon, the same orbit NASA plans to use for the lunar Gateway. Its primary mission of testing the stability of the orbit and conducting navigation experiments with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will last six months, followed by an extended or “enhanced” mission of up to 11 months with additional tests.
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spacenews.com

CAPSTONE up next for Rocket Lab

A NASA lunar cubesat mission is now scheduled to launch in late May on a Rocket Lab Electron after resolving issues with the rocket’s kick stage.
spacenews.com spacenews.com
 
CAPSTONE Spacecraft Launch Targeted No Earlier Than June 13

Frank Tavares Posted on May 31, 2022 6:00 pm

NASA, Rocket Lab, and Advanced Space are currently targeting no earlier than June 13, 2022, for the launch of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. This launch date will support readiness checks for final launch and the Photon satellite bus. Learn more about this ambitious mission flying a new path to the Moon.

 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1536335505356300289
View: https://twitter.com/peter_j_beck/status/1536335505356300289


The highest performance required from an Electron flight ever.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1536285122164535296
View: https://twitter.com/rocketlab/status/1536285122164535296


After 26 missions, Electron is no stranger to low Earth orbit, but our next mission will see us launch much farther than usual. Learn more about the rocket launching #CAPSTONE to the Moon for @NASA and @AdvancedSpace.
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The HyperCurie engine powering our Photon spacecraft for #CAPSTONE . This engine will take us to the moon.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1540505415359668224
View: https://twitter.com/Peter_J_Beck/status/1540505415359668224

https://twitter.com/x/status/1540796422240337920
View: https://twitter.com/rocketlab/status/1540796422240337920


It's almost moon time. The launch window for #CAPSTONE opens 09:50 on June 27 UTC. Join us for the webcast from around T-45 mins at rocketlabusa.com/live-stream
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Moon orbits can look wonky, depending where you watch from. This is a Halo Orbit, used this weekend by @RocketLab's CAPSTONE..
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1540684458520616961
View: https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/1540684458520616961
 
CAPSTONE en Route to the Moon After Successful Launch

Abby Tabor Posted on June 28, 2022 7:40 am

NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission is in space on the first leg of its journey to the Moon. CAPSTONE launched at 5:55 EDT (09:55 UTC) on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand, Tuesday, June 28.

Over the next six days, the engine of the Lunar Photon – the spacecraft carrying CAPSTONE as a payload – will periodically ignite to accelerate beyond low-Earth orbit and release CAPSTONE on the next phase of its journey to the Moon.

CAPSTONE en Route to the Moon After Successful Launch – Artemis

blogs.nasa.gov blogs.nasa.gov
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1544357423871414273
View: https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1544357423871414273


And an update from NASA: after deployment Monday, CAPSTONE “experienced communications issues while in contact with the Deep Space Network. The spacecraft team currently is working to understand the cause and re-establish contact.”
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1544357627488092162
View: https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1544357627488092162


More: “The team has good trajectory data for the spacecraft based on the first full and second partial ground station pass with the Deep Space Network. If needed, the mission has enough fuel to delay the initial post separation trajectory correction maneuver for several days.”
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