Signoff for re-usable faring should help Neutron launcher get off the ground

Space outfit Rocket Lab says its Hungry Hippo is ready to go into space, a fillip for the company’s plans to fly its new Neutron launch vehicle.

Hungry Hippo is a fairing – the nose cone used to protect payloads atop rockets from pressure and heat. Most rockets shed their fairings as they exit Earth’s atmosphere, and the structures usually burn up or fall into the ocean.

SpaceX recovers some of its fairings and re-uses them, to keep its costs low.

Rocket Lab wants to go one better by making its fairings part of its planned Neutron rocket. The company’s plan calls for its fairings to spring apart – while in flight – to create an aperture wide enough for the second stage rocket to exit. Once the second stage is on the way, Hungry Hippo’s mouth will close, and the Neutron will return to Earth with the fairing intact.

Here’s how it looks in action, on a test rig.

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