Josh Dinner is the Staff Writer for Spaceflight at Space.com. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016.
Launches & SpacecraftLaunches & Spacecraft'A game changer': Space shuttle astronaut Pam Melroy joins Venus Aerospace after revolutionary rocket engine breakthroughRocket Lab is getting ready to take a bigger bite out of the space launch market.
The company recently completed final qualification tests on the fairing that will crown its newest launch vehicle, the partially reusable Neutron, which is expected to fly for the first time early next year. The"Hungry Hippo"-style fairing opens and closes like a clamshell and is a novel approach to launch vehicle reusability. While Rocket Lab's workhorse SpaceX, too, has implemented its own recovery and refurbishment plans for Falcon 9 fairings, but the two halves of the shell protecting the rocket's payload on its way to orbit are still designed to split apart and fall back to Earth independently of each other, and of Falcon 9's first stage. Neutron's first stage, by contrast, will open its top like a giant mouth to spit out the vehicle's entire second stage and payload, and will then close the two halves back together before descending back through Earth's atmosphere to land and fly again.Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will build a 'super heavy' version of its powerful New Glenn rocket With qualification tests now complete, Neutron's fairing section has been shipped to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia, where it will be mated to the rocket ahead the vehicle's debut launch. “A rocket like Neutron has never been built before, and we’re doing it at a pace and price point that’s going to bring the innovation and competition needed in today’s industry,“ Rocket Lab Vice President for Neutron Shaun D’Mello said in a The company hails Neutron as “the world’s largest carbon composite launch vehicle,“ and said the new rocket's fairing underwent extensive tests before it was finally deemed ready for flight. Hungry Hippo is on the move 🦛 With qualification and acceptance testing complete, Neutron's fixed reusable fairing and upper module is on its way to LC-3. pic.twitter.com/SlRwCjMYkPBefore departing Rocket Lab's California-based test facility, the fairing was exposed to 275,000 pounds of external force to simulate dynamic pressures during launch, rapid cycling of the open and close mechanisms to ensure faster-than-necessary operations, software integration and load forces exceeding 125% design requirements.Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors Once the fairing is incorporated with Neutron's first stage, Rocket Lab will perform a series of prelaunch tests, including a static hotfire of the nine Archimedes engines that power the reusable booster. Neutron will stand 141 feet tall with a 23-foot diameter, and is expected to deliver up to 28,700 pounds of payload to low Earth orbit. Josh Dinner is the Staff Writer for Spaceflight at Space.com. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA's commercial spaceflight partnerships and crewed missions from the Space Coast, as well as NASA science missions and more. He also enjoys building 1:144-scale model rockets and human-flown spacecraft. Find some of Josh's launch photography on'If it's possible, it must be done': Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck has his eyes on missions to Mars and Venus This 7-hour cosmic explosion is the longest gamma-ray burst ever seen. Could it be from an elusive class of black hole? An industrial project in Chile threatens Earth's darkest sky. 28 leading astronomers signed an open letter urging to move it ARC Raiders is an oddly comforting reminder that Earth will get along just fine without us after the AI apocalypse
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