This month, we traveled west to Long Beach, California, where we were invited to tour Rocket Lab Headquarters. 

Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab was rooted in Auckland, New Zealand. They are the first privately owned company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space with its Ātea-1 single-stage rocket. They have additionally developed a long way from their South Pacific Island, having in-use launch sites in Wallops Island, Virginia, and an effective manufacturing facility in California. 

Their Rutherford engine is the world’s first almost entirely 3D-printed rocket engine with the capability of printing the primary parts in approximately 24 hours, with complex regenerative cooling channels all machined in! This cooling method is vital to keep the engines from melting at such high temperatures during launch. To accomplish this, they run propellant through the channel walls of the combustion chamber, in their case RP-1, a highly refined form of kerosene.

To date, the company has 44 launches under their belt, and more exciting ventures for them are on the horizon!

Their industrious team is subcontracted alongside UC Berkeley to finish and test the two dual-crafts for NASA’s mission, Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explores (ESCAPADE). 

Mission ESCAPADE is expected to launch this year on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket named after Astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit our beautiful blue and green marble in 1962. This two-stage rocket will journey to Mars, where ESCAPADE will orbit the red planet to observe its magnetosphere.

Keep your eyes on the skies!