Rocket Lab Just Revealed A Brand New Rocket
Rocket Lab has been very busy recently as they start launching Electron from two different launch complexes, and Neutron development and testing begins ramping up. Despite this, the company just announced another big project in the form of a new rocket named HASTE. HASTE stands for Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron.
In other words, HASTE is an upgraded Electron rocket with a new payload capacity, fairing options, etc. All of which meant to facilitate very specific missions that have the US government and other entities interested. Here I will go more in-depth into what exactly this rocket is, when will we see it launch, what to expect in the coming months, and more.
New Rocket Upgrades
Seemingly out of nowhere, yesterday Rocket Lab tweeted saying, “Introducing HASTE: Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron. A suborbital testbed rocket derived from Electron. Reliable, high-cadence suborbital flight test opportunities to advance hypersonic tech development. Ready for launch from Virginia now.” They also revealed that this project has been in the works for quite a while now considering the first launch of this upgraded rocket is scheduled to take place in the first half of 2023 for a confidential customer.
In addition to the announcement, Brian Rogers, Senior Director – Global Launch Services clarified that “Rocket Lab has a strong track record of delivering tailored and reliable space capabilities for the civil space and national security communities across launch and space systems and HASTE is an extension of this. Hypersonic and suborbital test capabilities are key priorities for the nation, yet the DoD’s ability to test these systems has been limited. With HASTE, we’ve taken a proven vehicle in Electron and tailored it specifically to deliver highly capable, frequent, and cost-effective hypersonic and suborbital test opportunities from our existing launch site in Virginia. Importantly, HASTE is not the promise of a future capability – it’s a completed launch vehicle ready for flight now, with the first one currently preparing for launch at our Integration and Control Facility in Wallops, Virginia, in the coming months.”
Based on these comments, in all likelihood, we can assume that the future of the HASTE program depends on how it performs on this inaugural launch and possibly a few missions following it.
Focusing more on the rocket itself, HASTE employs the same carbon composite structure and 3D printed Rutherford engines as Electron but has a modified Kick Stage for hypersonic payload deployment, a larger payload capacity of up to 700 kg / 1,540 lbs, and options for tailored fairings to accommodate larger payloads. In regard to this, Rocket Lab provided a few examples of different fairing types and payloads including air-breathing, ballistic re-entry, boost-glide, and space-based applications. The other big upside is custom trajectories. They highlight that flight test conditions are critical for hypersonic and suborbital testing. HASTE is a liquid launch vehicle with deep-throttle capability and a third stage with attitude control, and can provide flight trajectories with payload release velocities, altitudes, and orientations tailored to the customer’s mission.
The modified kick stage is one of the most important parts of this rocket. For years now Rocket Lab has been using this extra stage for different missions depending on the flight requirements. In its simplest form, the kick stage is a third stage meant to provide a streamlined path to orbit that eliminates the added risk, complexity, and cost of customers having to develop their own spacecraft propulsion or using a third-party space tug to deliver their spacecraft to the desired orbit when flying as a rideshare. What’s interesting is that Rocket Lab already has an upgraded kick stage variant named Photon, however, this isn’t what the new HASTE rocket is using. All the company says is “modified Kick Stage”. In reality, the system likely relies on a propulsion system consisting of Rocket Lab’s in-house designed and built Curie engine, low minimum impulse bit cold gas Reaction Control System thrusters, tank pressurization system, and high propellant mass fraction tanks which can be scaled to meet mission-specific needs.
These features combined with the fairing options and payload capacity make a rocket that appeals to a completely different market than Rocket Lab was already targeting, and it seems to be working very well so far.
Why Make Another Rocket?
Already, Rocket Lab has a few signed customers who are very interested in using this new technology. For example, Rocket Lab was selected by Dynetics to provide hypersonic test launch capability under the Multiservice Advanced Capability Test Bed (MACH-TB) project awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane division on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Separately, Rocket Lab has also been selected by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to prototype hypersonic launch capability on HASTE under the agency’s hypersonic and high-cadence testing capabilities (HyCAT) program, which aims to increase the cadence of hypersonic testing at a decreased cost of traditional flight tests. Under the initiative, Rocket Lab will explore the integration of scramjet-powered payloads, including the DART AE (Additive Engineering) vehicle developed by Australian company Hypersonix Launch Systems. This continues DIU and Rocket Lab’s partnership, which started under the Space Systems Command Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (SSC-RALI) effort in 2018, providing rapid and agile launch capabilities to the DoD. Due to the prototype’s success, any DoD organization can utilize DIU’s Solutions Catalog to procure launch services from Rocket Lab.
To stress the demand and interest in this new system, Rocket Lab was also selected by Missile Defense Agency Targets and Countermeasures (MDA/TC) to conduct a now-completed study to evaluate a variety of payloads on HASTE, setting the stage for future test flight opportunities. These program awards highlight the versatility of HASTE in providing tailorable trajectories and aerodynamic test regimes. As far as the future of this program, HASTE will be primarily operated under Rocket Lab National Security (RLNS), the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary created to serve the unique needs of the U.S. defense and intelligence community and its allies. Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 within the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is the launch site for HASTE.
Based on all these customers, it’s clear that Rocket Lab’s new HASTE system is hitting somewhat of an untapped market. The question is whether or not the new suborbital method will work well with the electron variant. Recently, Rocket Lab has been working to improve and alter the base Electron rocket in other ways. For example, earlier this month on the 3rd, Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck tweeted mentioning, “This is what it looks like when an Electron 1st stage re enters Earth from space (the wall) on its way to splash down. The engines are not running, it’s the heat shield just doing it’s job.” Here you could see the heat building up upon entry. This was from the most recent mission where Rocket Lab attempted a new recovery method.
Rather than try to catch the first stage out of mid air with a helicopter, the company wanted to try a controlled splashdown in the ocean. This saw Electron’s first stage return to Earth under a parachute and complete a soft splashdown in the ocean before it was collected by a customized vessel. The stage was then transported back to Rocket Lab’s production facility and analyzed to inform future recovery and reuse missions. It’s unclear if similar recovery methods will be attempted on the upcoming HASTE launch. Most likely they won’t as the company will be focusing on all the other changes, but it could be viable due to the fact that the first stages are practically identical.
On a past catch attempt, Rocket Lab was unable to catch the rocket and it instead fell into the ocean. After this happened, Peter Beck said, “This turned out to be quite a happy turn of events. Electron survived an ocean recovery in remarkably good condition, and in a lot of cases its components actually pass requalification for flight.” He continued by saying, “What the water landing does enable us to do is recover more vehicles because we don’t have the constraints of the operations of the helicopter. So, financially it’s kind of the same, but we get to actually reuse more vehicles.”
Until this first HASTE mission, we won’t know exactly what Rocket Lab plans. As partially mentioned prior, the only info we have is that it’s going to happen in the next two months, either May or June, with a confidential customer. As of right now, the first upgraded HASTE rocket is currently preparing for launch at the company’s Integration and Control Facility at LC-2. In the coming weeks, we can hope to receive some more updates and eventually get a first hand look at this new rocket and some of its features.
Conclusion
Rocket Lab just announced a brand new rocket that is not just starting development, but is ready to launch. HASTE will see a suborbital Electron variant with an upgraded kick stage and additional fairing options launch new types of payloads for unique reasons. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.