Name: Rocket Lab's Neutron "Weird Design" to be more reusable than Falcon 9, making laugh to Elon | Videos | Gan Jing World - Technology for Humanity | Video & Movie Streaming
Uploaded: 2023-03-30T04:00:00.000Z
Duration: 8 min 12 s
Description: Rocket Lab's Neutron "Weird Design" to be more reusable than Falcon 9, making laugh to Elon In the e... | Videos | Gan Jing World - Technology for Humanity | Video & Movie Streaming

ALPHA TECH

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Rocket Lab's Neutron "Weird Design" to be more reusable than Falcon 9, making laugh to Elon
In the eyes of the media, the private space industry consists of only two parts, SpaceX and the other. Only Blue Origin, backed by its own billionaire founder in the person of Jeff Bezos, seems able to command the same degree of attention. Sadly, Blue Origin hasn’t even gone beyond suborbital space yet. 
However, Rocket Lab might soon break that duopoly. 
The company, founded in New Zealand and headquartered in Long Beach, California, is second only to SpaceX when it comes to launching frequency—the two are ostensibly the only American companies that regularly go to orbit. Its small flagship Electron rocket has flown 32 times in just under five years and delivered almost 100 satellites into space, with only three failed launches. 
Importantly, the company is ambitious to build another rocket called Neutron. This is intended to be more reusable than the most favored SpaceX broomstick, Falcon 9. 
Rocket Lab even calls Neutron a “direct alternative” to the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. 
Woww, can they succeed or is it just a joke for SpaceX?
Discuss everything about this in today's episode of Alpha Tech:

Firstly, let’s start with Neutron’s unique design.
It is a tapered rocket with a wide base to provide a robust, stable base for landing, eliminating the need for complex mechanisms and landing legs. 
This balanced structure also removes the need for the bulky launch site infrastructure, including strongbacks and launch towers. Neutrons will instead stand securely on its own legs for lift-off. After reaching space and deploying Neutron’s second stage, the first stage will return to Earth for a propulsive landing at the launch site, eliminating the high costs associated with ocean-based landing platforms and operations.

What makes Neutron’s design especially unique is the captive ‘Hungry Hippo’ fairing design. This innovative design will see the fairing form part of the first stage structure and remain fixed to the stage. Rather than separating from the stage and falling away to the ocean like traditional fairings, Neutron’s Hungry Hippo fairing jaws will open wide to release the second stage and payload, before closing again ready to return to Earth with the first stage. What lands back on the launch pad is a complete first stage with fairings attached, ready for a new second stage to be integrated and launched. This advanced design can speed up launch frequency, eliminates the high cost, low-reliability method of capturing fairings at sea, and enables the second stage to be lightweight and nimble.
Rocket Lab's Neutron "Weird Design" to be more reusable than Falcon 9, making laugh to Elon