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21 sats \ 4 replies \ @Cje95 10 Apr 2024
Huge move for Rocket Lab. If they can nail this then it will be huge! They just gotta get their rocket success rate up as well!
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21 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr OP 10 Apr 2024
how many companies have higher launch success rates?
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46 sats \ 2 replies \ @Cje95 10 Apr 2024
SpaceX, ULA, Northrup Grumman, Firefly (granted it has only performed 2 launches but I mean in theory they are batting 100) and Blue Origin if you consider what they are doing.
Rocket Lab has had 4 failures in 40 launches and had a failure last year when they did 10 launches. 10% lost rate isn't the end of the world as they have been improving but its also not the greatest.
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21 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 10 Apr 2024
I believe Rocket Lab’s first failure was triggered by a government agency that was supposed to explode the rocket if the rocket went off course.
The government agency’s software wasn’t working correctly, causing them to blow up the rocket in error.
I think only SpaceX is worthy of comparison so far, and if I recall they had far more failures in their first 45 launches than Rocket Lab
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 10 Apr 2024
I mean they (SpaceX) also at the same time were the first people doing something like this and paved the way. Tons of their engineers and now at these other companies. I think you have to count ULA though since they are the only other rocket launcher for the US government in the US. Northrup is specialized in top-secret launches and while SpaceX has jumped into this space if it really is TS it is going to be launched by Northrup.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b 11 Apr 2024
I interviewed with their CTO back in 2018ish. I was like “I really like mvps and rapid prototyping” and he was like “oh you don’t do that with rocket software cause they explode.” He came from Tesla, so he said “its at least not like with self-driving where people die.”
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @TNStacker 10 Apr 2024
Exciting times in aerospace. In the U.S., Relativity Space, Blue Origin - looking to replace the current need for Russian rockets, SpaceX, Ursa Major, Hermeus, Sierra Nevada, Firefly - and I haven't even mentioned The Primes (Lockheed Martin, RTX, Boeing, Northrup Grumman), nor Japan, China, India, UAE, Russia, etc!
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21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Cje95 10 Apr 2024
United Launch needs Blue Origin to come through with its engines so they can finally kick the Russian habit! I am super interested in seeing how Relativity Space plays out this year. The 3D printing could be huge but the drawbacks are also pretty big! Axiom Space is another as they are looking to start building their own space station and they are looking into a mission that would actually go to Hubble and help do maintenance on it and lift it further into orbit!
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TNStacker 10 Apr 2024
Yeah, that BO development seems slow, but they are investing in facilities and talent in the right places. And they are replacing relatively inexpensive, very reliable motors.
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