VIDEO: Startup Launches First 3D-Printed Battery-Powered Rocket

Rocket Lab is a Lockheed Martin-Funded Startup that Dreams of Taking Small Satellites to Space for an Affordable Price -- but, it Wants to do so Using Technology Quite Different than Usual. See, the Company has Revealed that, its Engine Called the "Rutherford" is (1) Composed Mostly of 3D-Printed Parts and (2), Uses Batteries instead of Liquid Fuel. It will Paired Up with the Company's Electron Launch System and Together they Make Up the 1st Battery-Powered Rocket, or so the Startup Claims.


By Using Lithium Polymer Batteries (and hence, Electricity) to Propel the Rocket, the Company Can Get Rid of All the Tubes and Pumps Needed for Systems that Use Liquid Power Sources. In Addition, it Takes Merely 3 Days to Print the Components of the "Rutherford" Engine Out of Titanium and Other Alloys, Using an Advanced Form of 3D Printing Called, "Electron Beam Melting". (If those Components are Manufactured via Traditional Means, it will Take Up to a Month instead.) That Means Rocket Labs', well, Rockets, are Lighter, Can be Manufactured Faster and will Cost Clients Less Money per Launch.


In Fact, the Startup Believes, it will Cost only around $4.9 Million to Send the 65 Feet x 3 Feet System to Space, Carrying a Payload that Weighs Up to 220 Pounds. It Plans to Start Ferrying Satellites and Other Payloads Out there in 2016. While Intriguing, the "Rutherford"-Electron Rocket is Far from being the 1st One to Use Electric Propulsion. The Dawn Spacecraft that's on its Way to Proto-Planet, Ceres, has an Electric Engine on Board. Plus, NASA is Developing a Next-Gen Ion Thruster (which, Yes, Uses Electric Propulsion) for its Future Asteroid Mission.




Info Sources:

http://www.popsci.com/rocket-labs-got-3d-printed-battery-powered-rocket-engine?dom=tw&src=SOC

http://www.rocketlabusa.com/index.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/14/us-space-rocketlab-idUSKBN0N51HL20150414

https://vimeo.com/124891416