Rocket Lab Electron
Two-stage small launch vehicle, 200-300 kg to LEO / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Electron (rocket)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Electron is a two-stage, partially reusable orbital launch vehicle developed by Rocket Lab, an American aerospace company with a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary.[15][16] Electron was developed to service the commercial small satellite launch market.[17] Its Rutherford engines are the first electric-pump-fed engine to power an orbital-class rocket.[18] Electron is often flown with a kickstage or Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft. Although the rocket was designed to be expendable, Rocket Lab has recovered the first stage twice and is working towards the capability of reusing the booster.[19] The Flight 26 (F26) booster has featured the first helicopter catch recovery attempt.
Function | partially Reusable orbital launcher |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Rocket Lab |
Country of origin | New Zealand[1] United States[2][3][4] |
Project cost | US$100 million[5] |
Cost per launch | About US$7.5 million[6][7] |
Size | |
Height | 18 m (59 ft)[8] |
Diameter | 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)[8] |
Mass | 12.5 t (28,000 lb)[9] |
Stages | 2–3[8][10] |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | |
Payload to SSO | |
Mass | |
Associated rockets | |
Comparable | Shavit, Kaituozhe-1, Unha, Prime, Miura 5,SSLV |
Launch history | |
Status | Active |
Launch sites |
|
Total launches | 46 |
Success(es) | 42 |
Failure(s) | 4 |
First flight | May 25, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-05-25) |
Last flight | 23 April 2024 (Active) |
First stage | |
Height | 12.1 m (40 ft) |
Diameter | 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)[8] |
Powered by | 9 × Rutherford[8] |
Maximum thrust | Sea level: 224.3 kN (50,400 lbf)[8] Vacuum: 234 kN (53,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 311 s (3.05 km/s)[8] |
Propellant | RP-1/LOX[8] |
Second stage | |
Height | 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) |
Diameter | 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)[8] |
Powered by | 1 × Rutherford[8] |
Maximum thrust | Vacuum: 25.8 kN (5,800 lbf)[8] |
Specific impulse | 343 s (3.36 km/s)[8] |
Propellant | RP-1/LOX[8] |
Kick stage (optional) – Photon | |
Powered by | 1 × Curie[10] |
Maximum thrust | Vacuum: 0.12 kN (27 lbf)[10] |
Propellant | Viscous liquid monopropellant (AP, Al, Polydimethylsiloxane)[citation needed] |
Kick stage (optional) – Photon (modified) | |
Powered by | 1 × HyperCurie[13] |
Maximum thrust | Vacuum: 0.4 kN (90 lbf)[14] |
Specific impulse | 310 s (3.0 km/s)[14] |
Propellant | unspecified hypergolic bi-propellant |
In December 2016, Electron completed flight qualification. The first rocket was launched on 25 May 2017 in a flight called "It's a Test",[20] reaching space but not achieving orbit due to a glitch in communication equipment on the ground.[21][22] During its second flight on 21 January 2018, Electron reached orbit and deployed three CubeSats, in a mission called "Still Testing".[23] The first commercial launch of Electron, and the third launch overall, occurred on 11 November 2018, in a mission called "It's Business Time".[24] Since then, Electron has launched successfully 41 times, with an additional 4 failures, for a grand total of 45 launches.