Neutron
The mega constellation launcher
Your mission, your way
Reliable and cost-effective launch services for constellation deployment, cargo resupply, interplanetary missions. Human spaceflight capable.
Overview
- Height
- 43 m / 141 ft
- Diameter
- 7m
- Fairing Diameter
- 5m
- Payload To LEO
- 13,000 kg
- Lift Off Mass
- 480,000 kg
- Propellant
- LOX / Methane
Features
- Designed for mega constellation deployment, deep space missions, and human spaceflight
- Efficient reusability - return to launch site
- Captive fairing design allows for fully reusable first stage
and fairing - Lightweight specially formulated Rocket Lab carbon composite structure
Performance
Neutron will feature the new Archimedes Engine
First Stage
- 9 Archimedes Engines
- Lox/Methane Oxidizer Rich Closed Cycle
- Total Lift-off Thrust: 6,600 kN (1,485,000 lbf)
- Total Peak Thrust: 8,090 kN (1,819,000 lbf)
Second Stage
- Single Vacuum Archimedes Engine
- Lox/Methane Oxidizer Rich Closed Cycle
- Vacuum Thrust: 890 kN (200,000 lbf)
Location
The Neutron Production Complex and launch pad for our Neutron rocket will be located at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The Neutron Production Complex will be home to a rocket production, assembly, and integration facility, as well as a dedicated launch pad for the Neutron rocket located on the southern end of Wallops Island. The estimated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art complex will be constructed on a 28-acre site adjacent to the Wallops Island Flight Facility and will include a Launch Control Center, Rocket Lab’s fifth global operations center for launch activities and on-orbit operations. To support rapid production of the Neutron rocket, current plans for the complex include automated fiber placement robotic production systems capable of laying up meters of Neutron’s new, specially formulated carbon composite structures in minutes. As a reusable rocket, Neutron is designed to land back on the Launch Complex 3 pad after a mission and from there it would be returned to the production complex for refurbishment and re-flight.
