Rutherford (rocket engine)

Rutherford
Sea-level Rutherford engine
Country of origin United States
 New Zealand
DesignerRocket Lab
ManufacturerRocket Lab
ApplicationFirst- and second-stage
StatusActive
Liquid-fuel engine
PropellantLOX / RP-1
CycleElectric-pump-fed
Pumps2
Configuration
Chamber1
Performance
Thrust, vacuum
  • Original: 24 kN (5,500 lbf)
  • Updated: 26 kN (5,800 lbf)
Thrust, sea-level
  • Original: 24 kN (5,500 lbf)
  • Updated: 25 kN (5,600 lbf)
Thrust-to-weight ratio72.8
Specific impulse, vacuum343 s (3.36 km/s)
Specific impulse, sea-level311 s (3.05 km/s)
Dimensions
Diameter.25 m (9.8 in)
Dry mass35 kg (77 lb)
Used in
Electron, HASTE
References
References[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Rutherford is a liquid-propellant rocket engine designed by aerospace company Rocket Lab[8] and manufactured in Long Beach, California.[9] The engine is used on the company's own rocket, Electron. It uses LOX (liquid oxygen) and RP-1 (refined kerosene) as its propellants and is the first flight-ready engine to use the electric-pump-fed cycle. The rocket uses a similar engine arrangement to the Falcon 9; a two-stage rocket using a cluster of nine identical engines on the first stage, and one vacuum-optimized version with a longer nozzle on the second stage. This arrangement is also known as an octaweb.[10][5][6] The sea-level version produces 24.9 kN (5,600 lbf) of thrust and has a specific impulse of 311 s (3.05 km/s), while the vacuum optimized-version produces 25.8 kN (5,800 lbf) of thrust and has a specific impulse of 343 s (3.36 km/s).[11]

First test-firing took place in 2013.[12] The engine was qualified for flight in March 2016[13] and had its first flight on 25 May 2017.[14] As of April 2024, the engine has powered 47 Electron flights in total, making the count of flown engines 369, including one engine flown twice.[15]

  1. ^ "Electron". Rocket Lab. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  2. ^ "rocket lab reach 500 rutherford engine test fires".
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference b14643-asianpropulsion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference rocketlabs-propulsion20160919 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference b14643-electronnlvdescription was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference b14643-electronnlvpropulsion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Rocket Lab Increases Electron Payload Capacity, Enabling Interplanetary Missions and Reusability". Rocket Lab. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Rocket Lab Reveals First Battery-Powered Rocket for Commercial Launches to Space | Rocket Lab". Rocket Lab. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  9. ^ Knapp, Alex (21 May 2017). "Rocket Lab Becomes A Space Unicorn With A $75 Million Funding Round". Forbes. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  10. ^ "Meet the Octaweb – SpaceX". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Electron". Rocket Lab. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  12. ^ "10 things about Rocket Lab". 27 May 2017. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference rocketlabs-pr201603rutherfordqualified was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "New Zealand space launch is first from a private site". BBC News. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  15. ^ @RocketLab (23 August 2023). "260 399 Rutherford engines launched to space" (Tweet) – via Twitter.