CompositesWorld

NOV 2017

CompositesWorld

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NOVEMBER 2017 28 CompositesWorld WORK IN PROGRESS unprecedented access to space, which is part of Rocket Lab's mission," Beck says. Further, its Electron rocket and Rutherford engines are designed for rapid scale-up of production, including vertical integration of advanced composite materials and advanced manufacturing processes. "Rocket Lab has designed Electron to provide launches at exceptional frequency," Beck explains. "is, in our view, is what will change how we use and understand space. At full production, we expect to launch more than 50 times a year, and we're regu- lated to launch up to 120 times a year. In comparison," he notes, from all sources, "there were 22 launches last year from the United States, and 82 internationally." Production in Huntington Beach and Auckland is followed by assembly in Auckland and launches, primarily, in New Zealand. Although Rocket Lab was unwilling to identify proprietary materials and manufacturing processes, CW learned that carbon fiber composites were selected for all of Electron's primary structures, including the payload fairing. "We worked to ensure commonality between the structures in both stages of the rocket to allow rapid production at scale," says composites team manager Ben Malcolm. A key to its rapid scale-up strategy was the use of additive manufacturing for the Rutherford rocket engines. Nine are used for the first stage of Electron, and one for its second stage. "e rocket engines are printed using titanium and super alloys. We use groundbreaking 3D printing techniques to rapidly According to common aerospace industry usage, the following terms and definitions apply, when describing the class of low Earth orbit satellites classed as "small." A small satellite, or SmallSat, has a mass of less then 500 kg. Within that range, subclasses are denoted as follows: • Mini-satellites weigh between 120 kg and 500 kg. • Micro-satellites, 10 kg to 120 kg. • Nano-satellites, have a mass below 10 kg. • CubeSats is the special moniker for those satellites with a mass of 1 kg or less. (Source | Financial Times, July 10, 2016, "Nano-satellites dominate space and spread spies in the skies") How small is a SmallSat? SIDE STORY FIG. 4 Electron's first flight Rocket Lab's prototype launch, appropriately named It's a Test, passed muster on all points but one, entry into LEO. Its failure to place payload into orbit, however, was determined to be a ground control fault. At CW presstime, Rocket Lab announced a second test was on the docket for mid-October, with two commercial SmallSats aboard. FIG. 5 Hospitable for launch Rocket Lab has paired its launch system with a suitably remote launch site, on the Mahia Peninsula, NZ, to permit frequent launches with minimal chance of conflict with local air or marine traffic or surrounding population.

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