Rutherford (rocket engine)
Liquid-fueled rocket engine / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 feed 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][6][7] 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]
Country of origin | United States New Zealand |
---|---|
Designer | Rocket Lab |
Manufacturer | Rocket Lab |
Application | First- and second-stage engine |
Status | Active |
Liquid-fuel engine | |
Propellant | LOX[1] / RP-1[1] |
Cycle | Electric pump-fed engine |
Pumps | 2 electric pumps |
Configuration | |
Chamber | 1 |
Performance | |
Thrust, vacuum | |
Thrust, sea-level |
|
Thrust-to-weight ratio | 72.8 |
Specific impulse, vacuum | 343 s (3.36 km/s)[2][1] |
Specific impulse, sea-level | 311 s (3.05 km/s)[2][1] |
Dimensions | |
Diameter | 25 cm (9.8 in) |
Dry mass | 35 kg (77 lb)[3] |
Used in | |
Electron, HASTE | |
References | |
References | [4][5][6][7] |
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]