Rocket Lab to Provide a Speedy Ride to Orbit With New ‘Photon’ Spacecraft

摘要

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Rocket Lab USA has designed a new spacecraft dubbed “Photon” with the intent of launching small satellite payloads into low Earth orbit within four months from order to orbit, company officials announced April 8. “This is kind of the next level of democratization of space, said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO during a media roundtable Monday at the Space Foundation’s 35th annual Space Symposium here. “The Photon is a fully functional spacecraft bus – you can bring just your payload or your idea.” The in-house designed and built platform is intended for missions such as technology demonstrations, risk reduction pathfinders, constellations and hosted payloads, with an available payload mass of up to 170 kg, or about 374 pounds. It was developed as a configurable platform and could serve missions such as communications, remote sensing, and Internet of Things (IoT). The first operational Photon will be launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand in the fourth quarter of 2019, Beck said. Future missions are in active planning for 2020 with both commercial and government customers, he added. Manufactured in the company’s Huntington Beach, California facility, Photon was designed as an integrated part of the Rocket Lab mission experience from the start of the company’s Electron launch vehicle program, Beck said. Electron received flight certification in 2016.