Why Rocket Lab Is So Important To The Future Space Industry
Rocket Lab is a private space company that has been making big strides in the industry since it began developing rockets. The company started with small-lift launch vehicles but has even bigger plans for the future. Combine this with the continued dedication and work towards ambitious goals and you have a company that is going to likely become a big player in the industry.
Rocket Lab will likely become a very big company and provide competitive services to different customers. Thanks to their Electron rocket and the up-and-coming Neutron launch vehicle, the private company has big plans. If successful Rocket Lab will help encourage innovation and lower costs overall helping the industry thrive over time.
While working towards outlandish or complicated goals can be risky, it also can end up providing incredible innovation. Rocket Lab’s continued work and development of unique ideas make the company stand out as part of the future of the space industry.
Rocket Lab’s Background
Rocket Lab is an American company with a wholly-owned New Zealand subsidiary that was founded in 2006. The company works to provide a reliable launch service along with spacecraft, satellites components, and on-orbit management. The company also has a big focus on Earth and the positive impact they have on our own planet. Rocket Lab believes that the more access we have to space the more benefits Earth ends up receiving. Rocket Lab was founded by Peter Beck with the vision of eliminating commercial barriers to space. The private company mentions how the primary launch providers in the world are very large rockets. These rockets have a high cost that many cannot afford. Additionally throughout time satellites have been getting smaller with better technology. This is where Rocket Lab has come to try and provide the perfect service. Rocket Lab is constantly working towards lowering costs per launch and speeding up the launch time. This in return will make it cheaper for customers and more frequent.
Electron’s Current & Future Impact
Rocket Lab has had quite an impact already thanks to its Electron rocket. Electron is a two-stage partially reusable rocket. This is a small-lift launch vehicle standing at 18m tall and 1.2m wide. Filled with propellant the rocket has a mass of just under 30,000 pounds and a payload to low Earth orbit of 300kg or 661 pounds. The rocket has a cost per launch of $7.5 million. This price is expensive but still a lot more affordable than many other launch providers. This is thanks to Electron’s smaller size and launch operation. In the short amount of time that Electron has been fully operational, it has already made big strides. Specifically, the rocket has had 21 launches to date and successfully sent over 100 satellites into orbit.
One of the aspects of Electron that make it so special is the partially reusable design. After the rocket launches and the first and second stage disconnect, the booster starts falling back towards Earth. Once closer towards the ground, it deploys a large parachute. After the booster has slowed down and is parachuting towards the ground, a helicopter flies in and catches it out of mid-air. This ambitious and innovative idea will help the company reuse the booster and save money each launch. With less money spent on the booster, Rocket Lab can offer even lower costs per launch to its customers. Additionally, the refurbishment process is faster than creating an entirely new booster. This saves time and increases the launch frequency.
All of this is very important for the future of the space industry. Companies like Rocket Lab are innovating and providing a service that is desperately needed in the industry. Affordable small-lift launch vehicles increase access to space and help lower costs. Rocket Lab’s work towards ambitious ideas also helps spark innovation within the industry. Current and future competitors to Rocket Lab will be forced to be extremely innovative and think outside the box if they want to compete with launch costs and frequency. All of this provides invaluable progress for the space industry as a whole.
Neutron’s Future Impact
Rocket Lab has had great success with its Electron rocket but the company wants to expand its capabilities. While they will continue to put a lot of effort and focus on the small-lift launch vehicle, they will also be working on Neutron. Neutron is a next-generation medium-lift launch vehicle. The rocket is significantly bigger than Electron standing at 40m tall and 4.5m wide. Neutron is expected to be capable of bringing around 8000kg to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab just like Electron is putting a lot of effort into lowering launch costs and providing its customers with an affordable launch vehicle.
One of the ways Rocket Lab is doing this is by making Neutron partially reusable. The private company is planning on making the first stage of the rocket reusable. More specifically Rocket Lab wants the first stage to land by itself on an ocean platform after launch. Similar to SpaceX this could lower costs and speed up each launch. One of the big deals about Neutron other than its increased payload capacity is the plan to carry humans. In a video released by Rocket Lab, founder and CEO Peter Beck revealed they were starting to work on a larger rocket that would also be used for human spaceflight.
This is a very big deal and the impact on the future could be substantial. Currently, there are very few launch vehicles capable of carrying humans into space and back down. In the United States with the delays of Boeing’s Starliner, the Falcon 9 and SpaceX are the only capable company. The addition of a medium-lift partially reusable launch vehicle could be a massive benefit. This would not only increase access to space but also lower costs significantly. With more than one U.S. company capable of sending humans into space agencies like NASA would have multiple options. This would cut down on costs and spark even more innovation.
The Importance Of Different Companies
Rocket Lab’s success as a whole will benefit the space industry. The competition between companies provides limitless additions to different launch providers and customers. Specifically, competition drives innovation and lowers costs. If Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket is capable of sending humans or satellites into orbit for a fraction of the costs then other companies will have to find a way to lower costs as well. To do this they innovate in ways such as fully or partially reusable rockets. NASA is a big fan of this process and the agency has facilitated it many times.
An example could be the Commercial Crew Program. Here NASA funded both Boeing and SpaceX to create a human-rated capsule that could send astronauts to the International Space Station and back safely. NASA funded two companies rather than one to encourage competition and lower the prices for the agency. Thanks to the funding SpaceX made an extremely innovative and cost-effective crew module named Dragon. NASA has encouraged competition in other contracts like the Lunar Lander competition. All of which are working towards the goal of more space access, better technology, and lower prices.
Conclusion
Rocket Lab is a company with very ambitious goals and ideas for the future. These ambitious ideas are exactly why the company is so important to the future of the space industry. Thanks to the Electron rocket Rocket Lab is providing a cost-effective and reliable launch service that has and will continue to positively impact the industry. With the announcement and work on Neutron, it is possible the private company will provide a launch vehicle capable of carrying humans into space and back. As Rocket Lab continues to progress it drives innovation in the industry and lowers costs for everyone involved. We will have to wait and see Rocket Lab’s future success and the impact they have on the industry.
