Elon Muskfounded by SapceX‘s biggest competitor Rocket Lab, newly produced Neutron introduced its rocket. Just as Falcon 9The rocket, which has the vertical landing feature as in the ‘, made a sound with the reusability it provides. In fact, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of the company in question.
Rocket Lab, came to the fore with a failed launch attempt earlier this year. company rocket electron Despite a successful takeoff, he was disappointed after the crash. Finally, the company, which took the stage again, Neutron It is getting ready to compete with SpaceX again. Here are the details…
Disappointment from SpaceX rival Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab, one of SpaceX’s biggest competitors in terms of reusable rockets, made a special launch today. However, things did not go well.
Neutron will cost less than SpaceX
Announcing that it has produced its most advanced and most powerful rocket to date, Rocket Lab, Neutronproduced from a special carbon composite material. In this way, the company was able to increase durability and maintain lightness. Falcon 9The launch vehicle, which is designed to land on the runway similar to , will be used in tasks such as carrying satellites into orbit.
speaking live Rocket Labfounder of and CEO‘That Peter Beck“An absolute beast,” said Neutron. The rocket aims to carry a payload of up to 15,000 kilograms to Earth orbit in one-way trips. It is expected to be able to carry up to 8,000 kilograms as reusable.
Beck said in an interview with CNBC that he aims to see Neutron on the launch pad by 2024. The CEO, who avoided commenting on the cost of such a launch, underlined that they would still offer competitive prices. To make a comparison, we come across a very interesting picture.
Rocket Lab‘s small scale electron $7 million per launch of the rocket, firefly‘s medium-sized Alpha rocket costs $15 million and SpaceXAdvertisement for Falcon 9 costs $62 million per launch. However, it is worth remembering that Falcon 9, 22,800 It can take up to a kilogram of payload into orbit.
SpaceX While it can land a drone in the ocean when needed, Neutron must return to the launch site for all its reusable missions. Making a statement on this issue, Rocket Lab CEO said, “It is nice to land on unmanned aerial vehicles, but we use the lowest cost method.”
When Beck discussed the material from which Neutron will be made, he gave another example from SpaceX, and after beating the stainless steel, the main material used in the Starship rocket, with a mallet, he also struck the carbon composite material used in Neutron and showed that it did not bend, turning his eyes to Elon Musk.
A new engine inspired by Archimedes; Archimedes
Rocket Lab also announced that it has developed a new engine for Neutron, called Archimedes. Peter Beck, touted Archimedes’ design as “very simple” and “has everything you want when you need to build an engine that can be used over and over.” he defined.
Seven Archimedean engines on the rocket power Neutron’s first space-going stage, while the eighth moves the upper stage once in orbit. The Archimedes engines, scheduled to fire next year, will be built at Rocket Lab’s facility in New Zealand.
So what are your thoughts on this subject? Do you think Rocket Lab can rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX at the prices it offers? You can share your views with us in the comments section.