Electron version
Electron Electron (two-stage)
The baseline Electron: two carbon-composite stages 1.2 m across and 18 m tall, burning RP-1 and liquid oxygen. Its Rutherford engines were the first electric-pump-fed engines to power an orbital rocket — nine on the first stage, one vacuum-optimised on the second. It first flew on 25 May 2017 and carries up to 300 kg to low Earth orbit.
- May 25, 2017
- First launch
- 300 kg
- LEO capacity
- 224 kN
- Thrust
- No
- Reusable
History
Electric pumps
What sets Electron apart from earlier launchers is not its size but how it feeds its engines. Instead of a turbopump driven by hot gas, the Rutherford uses pumps turned by electric motors running off lithium-polymer batteries. The second stage carries three battery packs that are hot-swapped in flight, jettisoning two of them once drained so the vehicle does not haul dead weight uphill. Nearly every engine part is 3D printed, which let Rocket Lab scale production without scaling the factory.
From a failed debut to routine flight
The maiden flight, "It's a Test", lifted off on 25 May 2017 from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. It reached space but was lost to a glitch in ground communications equipment rather than anything aboard the rocket. The second flight, on 21 January 2018, made orbit and released three CubeSats; the third, on 11 November 2018, was the first commercial mission.
Built for small payloads
Electron was aimed at a specific gap: small satellites unwilling to wait for a rideshare or to accept whatever orbit the primary payload dictates. Initial capacity was 150 to 225 kg into a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit; in August 2020, with better batteries, that rose to a 225 to 300 kg band. Prices start around 7.5 million dollars per launch.
Its own launch sites
Launch Complex 1 at Mahia was the first entirely private orbital launch site: rocket and pad both funded without government money, something no other spaceflight company had managed. In 2018 Rocket Lab added a second site at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops, Virginia, intended for US government customers; the first launch from there flew on 24 January 2023.