Neutron

The mega constellation launcher

13,000 Kilograms To LEO
1,500 Kilograms To Mars/Venus
Reusable Launch Again And Again

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
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Performance

Neutron will feature the new Archimedes Engine

 

First Stage
  • 9 Archimedes Engines
  • Lox/Methane Oxidizer Rich Closed Cycle
  • Total Lift-off Thrust: 6,800 kN (1,530,000 lbf)
  • Total Peak Thrust: 7,300 kN (1,640,000 lbf)

 

Second Stage
  • Single Vacuum Archimedes Engine
  • Lox/Methane Oxidizer Rich Closed Cycle
  • Vacuum Thrust: 890 kN (200,000 lbf)
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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.

2 Neutron Production Complex FINAL