SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Rocket Lab [wikipedia.org] plans to merge with a special-purpose acquisition company [spacenews.com] (SPAC), become a publicly traded company, and develop a medium-lift partially reusable rocket. "Neutron" would be competitive with SpaceX's Falcon 9 [wikipedia.org] and capable of launching cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

The funding from the SPAC merger will enable another new initiative. Rocket Lab said it is working on a medium-class launch vehicle called Neutron, capable of placing up to 8,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit, more than 20 times the capacity of Electron. The company disclosed few technical details about Neutron, but said that it intends to make the first stage reusable through propulsive landing on an ocean platform, similar to SpaceX's recovery of Falcon 9 first stages.

The new vehicle is intended to support the growing interest in satellite megaconstellations. "Neutron's eight-ton lift capacity will make it ideally sized to deploy satellites in batches to specific orbital planes, creating a more targeted and streamlined approach to building out megaconstellations," Beck said in the statement.

Rocket Lab had previously resisted building a larger vehicle. "There's no market for it," Beck said during a side session of the Smallsat Conference in August 2020. "If you build a larger rocket, you relegate yourself to being purely rideshare, and rideshare is really well-served."

The first Neutron launch is scheduled for 2024 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. The vehicle will leverage the infrastructure the company built at Launch Complex 2 there for the Electron rocket, which will make its debut from that pad later this year. Rocket Lab said it's "assessing locations across America" for a factory that would handle large-scale production of Neutron.

Press release [rocketlabusa.com].

Also at The Verge [theverge.com] and CNBC [cnbc.com].

Previously (company history as seen on SN):

*SPOILER* (click to show) *SPOILER* (click to hide)

Rocket Lab Unveils "Electric" Rocket Engine [soylentnews.org]
Moon Express and Rocket Lab Team Up for 2017 Lunar Mission [soylentnews.org]
New Companies Begin to Target the Micro-Satellite Market [soylentnews.org]
"Planet" Purchases 3 Launches from "Rocket Lab" [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Makes Suborbital Launch From New Zealand [soylentnews.org]
Launch of Rocket Lab's Second "Electron" Rocket Due Dec. 7-8 [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab's Second "Electron" Rocket Launch Succeeds, Reaches Orbit [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab's Electron Rocket Launched "Humanity Star", a Temporary Source of Light Pollution [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Set to Launch Commercial Payloads on April 20 [soylentnews.org]
NASA Awards Launch Contracts to Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Plans to Build its Next Launch Site in the US [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab to Build U.S. Launch Site at Wallops Island, Virginia [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab's Modest Launch is Giant Leap for Small Rocket Business [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Set to Launch its First Payloads for NASA [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Mission for NASA Successfully Launches 13 CubeSats [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Successfully Launches R3D2 Mission for DARPA [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Will Build Satellites for Launch Customers [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Will Attempt to Recover First Stages Using a Helicopter [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab's Guided Reentry Test Moves Company Closer to Partially Reusable Rockets [soylentnews.org]
NASA Selects 18 Research CubeSats as Secondary Payloads; Rocket Lab Will Send CubeSat to Lunar Orbit [soylentnews.org]
After a Second Stage Failure, Rocket Lab Loses Seven Satellites [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Will Resume Missions in August Following Launch Failure [soylentnews.org]
Rocket Lab Secretly Launched its Own Company-made Satellite on Latest Flight [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission