In mid-November the company Rocket Lab will attempt to send six small satellites into Earth orbit. It would seem, nothing unusual in this. But the size of the launch vehicle will make you wonder: she is only 17 meters in height and 1.2 meters in diameter. If all goes as planned, the American company will launch at least one rocket its Electron each month in 2019.
Rocket Lab, established in 2006, has completed a successful test flight in January and later this month is expected to be the first in a new generation of companies that call their activity “the industry small startups”.
Small missiles rushing into space
The launch window opens on November 11. Not having the right to make a mistake, the rocket will soar with the world’s first private orbital launch site in Mahia, New Zealand.
As Rocket Lab, dozens of startup companies are developing missiles, adapted to send a small, micro or nanosatellites that weigh from a few kilos to several hundred kilos, into space.
The creation of Rocket Lab can boast of a fuselage made of carbon composite black with white lettering Electron side. Its engine is going on a 3D printer in California, that goes very cheap. Start-up of New Zealand also has its advantages compared to the traditional places in Florida or California, there are so many planes in the air.
“If air traffic is not possible to run more often than any other place on the planet,” says a company representative.
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