What an amazing presentation from Peter. I can't wait to see Neutron in action in just a few years! This is an exciting day for Rocket Lab!

Perhaps, but think of it from a Promethean perspective. Competition is healthy! SpaceX, Neutron, we need more - not less! The more focus, investment, and development into space exploration, orbital infrastructure, launch vehicles, etc ... the further, sooner, and more efficiently we'll expand Mankind's horizon. Often, its only by leaving the 'village' that one comes to understand - and eventually rectify - its failures. To better the Earth, and Human civilization, looking inward from beyond our atmosphere will do wonders.

@Alessandro Araujo is low orbit satellite launching not considered space?

@SAINT KIDS someone’s lacking oxygen eh

Carbon Composite = Fraud 2050 Material = Fraud No actual rocket = Fraud Open Rocket Head = Violation of basic physic, Newton's Law. so its fraud.

@George Wdym?

This looks awesome. I also like the very confident tone he’s adopted and the subtle competitive shade he’s throwing at other launchers: stainless steel and barge landings (SpaceX), challenges & slow speed of metal 3-D printing (Relativity), and “when we say we’re gonna do something, we do it” (Blue Origin). This is real competition and it’s a good thing for the industry.

Regarding the stainless steel ... "The best way to manage a thermal load is to just not have it." That's what drives Neutron's unique teardrop shape -- it reduces the pressure build-up from the shockwave of re-entry, which in turn reduces thermal loads. RocketLab certainly could place conformal fuel tanks inside ... but if they're manufactured as cylinders then I suspect they're way more reliable, and much easier to manufacture. Non-conformal fuel tanks would drive a large (maybe 30-50cm?) air gap between the fuel tanks and the outer shell. That's a massive amount of thermal insulation, and it means the outer shell is nowhere *near* cryogenic temperatures. At that point, the unique low-temp advantages of 30x stainless steel are gone, and carbon composite can reassert its strength/weight advantage. Hence RocketLab's design decision. This is very different from Falcon or Starship, but it's a perfectly valid approach. I look forward to seeing RocketLab prove it out ... I have strong confidence they'll be successful.

Don't forget fairings were mentioned lol

Rocket Lab is the one company that can actually compete with spaceX

@Louis Apostolakis Yeah barges are definitely needed to get stuff into LEO, since it requires much more speed. If you're always trying to land your rocket back to the launchsite, the rocket will be expending ridiculous amounts of fuel just to negate the forward momentum it gave itself, thus payload size will be extremely limited. I predict that Neutron will be targeting HEO and Geostationary launches until they can get their remote landing infrastructure set up & their landing accuracy nailed down.

@T’Robert Smif Lol. I don't think you have any idea of the proportions here. Advertisement is basically free compared to the cost of actually developing & building a rocket

Love that there are private competing rocket companies. Hope it works as well as they show.

@Matthew Forster rocketlab is public as in publicly traded, but he meant private companies as in companies owned by people and not the goverment

Very exciting

Public

I was on the edge the whole time, expecting that thing to hit Peter while he nonchalantly kept turning his back to it. :)

Вмвзввзззздддзддддз

Me too. But that would've come as a news first

@Chazz Summer Lol. Right?

same

@albert_the_cool For SpaceX's sake, i hope there are no beams floating around in the atmosphere

The fairing reuse made my jaw drop, such a simple idea, yet genius! Go Rocket Lab!

@Wilson Good idea: Bezos, Bozos and Bimbos LLC. "You launch it, we chase it."

​@Ryan Campbell All public knowledge and I give credit where credit is due. To be fair I like what rocket lab is doing but SpaceX is on another level. They are mostly copying SpaceX's strategy and applying it to smaller rockets which is good because it's rough being a direct competitor to SpaceX - just ask the Russians.

@Wilson shit didn’t know I was talking to the ceo of SpaceX, sorry mate

I don't see figuring out to reuse a fairing like this is genius it's what every little kid including the little kid inside my skull pictures the genius is figuring out how to make it work because I'm assuming everyone else didn't do this first because there are technical problems

@R3D he's a master tinkerer, but papa space is Peter Beck, he's been building rockets since like 10

I absolutely love how different companies suddenly started developing own methods and taking own ways in space launching, competition is the engine of progress. Love you, waiting to see this :3

@Matt's Youtube stuff I am not hating bro read my comment and try to understand what I am saying . It looks advanced but not 2050s advanced regardless Rocketlab is taking a proactive step making a space system that is futuristic in design and slightly 2050 ish , but that is how they and some people see it , but still I would not say it looks 2050ish , before other space companies doing something amazing and bringing that kind of design and capabilities almost now , it is amazing ! But now I want to see how their actual 2050s( in the next 3 decades ) look , how they will top it off , how futuristic in design and advanced their spaceships will look in actual 2050s , in that actual time period

@Patrico Fritz It's called marketing my dude. Rocket Lab is a public company, they are trying to sell the idea of a 2050 rocket today for investors. It's obviously not 2050 tech. There's no telling what technology we'll have in 2050 afterall

@Matt's Youtube stuff So I want to see how their spacecraft/rockets look in 2050 . This is advanced but not really 2050 advanced and they are doing it now . I want to see how their rockets/ships look in 2050 . It should definitely be more advanced than this since they are being proactive now .

@adam burdt It's not going to take 29 years to build lol! He said 2050 rocket that they're building today. They're internally targeting 2024 for the first launch, as seen in the previous Neutron video. $RKLB stock has a lot of potential to give great returns in 2-4 years if development goes well

Yeah but he said 2050... By that time will this be necessary or practical?Likely not... Tesla, Amazon have 29 years to improve and by that time it will certainly be better than this. Nice to see competition and all. But I wouldn't go buying RKLB stock.

There lot of subtle take on spaceX in this video 😂 but I love it I hope this wont take much time before I see it flying

"when we say we're going to do something, we do it" shots fired

@jxjuk you're not wrong. I'm just happy that there are people who love researching and talking about this topic.

@Dr. Bright it’s not entirely trivial - you also have to get different satellites into different orbits. If on-payload thrust systems improve to the point you can just throw them all up in one place and move them from there, Starship certainly has advantages. But for rapid deployment in a particular orbit I can see Astra and Rocketlab doing better, esp. for JIT use.

@Pico you do have a point. But, may I ask you? Is it good for a single company to have total autonomy over space? The fact that today, we can ourselves build satellites in our house and launch them is brilliant, and thanks to this competition.

@Dr. Bright idk brah. First flight in 2024 ? By then starship will have flown already. Why pay money to send 8 tonnes up there when you can pay the same amount for 150 tonnes to leo? He said it himself. Most satellites will be for constellations, so it is a no brainer to go big(ger).

I love the fact that we now literally have advertisements for rockets - this is definitely the future!!! I can't wait for the, "For your next suborbital flight, think carbon, think comfort, think Rocket Labs."

"Thank you for flying Rocket labs! we hope to see you again"

I would actually think of buying a seat with such advertisements.

Love it!

No, this is the present! It is today! 👍

😁😁😁

SpaceX may be way out ahead of the pack, but they still leave a lot of room to compete. It's just nice to see someone else aiming to fill it for a change, and coming up with new, innovative, ideas of their own. GG Rocket Lab!

@AncapLanaOriginal Yeah, talk about Transporter missions

Their fairing design is brilliant. Keeping them attached and hinged instead of completely ejecting them from the rocket like SpaceX, who then had to create its own recovery design using ships, etc.

rocket lab is not competing with spaceX, they are filling two different markets.

Now this is what I call "thinking out of the box". A second stage that is completely inside the fairing! I would never thought about that. This is great. I wish you good luck and lets light this candle!

Wasnt there one on the Space-like TV show with puppets rescuing everyone in amazing vehicles from secret islands and such, "International Rescue" I believe!?

@heldgop Yes, that's the point... for that particular Atlas configuration, the fairings are attached to the first stage, just like Neutron. That's why I said that the unusual part isn't that they're on the first age, but that they're closeable. Edit: or maybe I misinterpreted your post... did you mean that with Neutron, the fairings are carrying the load? Yes, that's unusual.

@TexanUSMC8089 Starship Launch Sequence: Super heavy - 1st stage Starship - 2nd stage Dragon - 3rd stage Star man Roadster - 4th stage Super Heavy carrying a Starship carrying a Dragon carrying a rocket-powered Tesla Roadster… nice

​@Simon Geard but as far as i know the centaur upper stage you mention is still carrying the the load of the satellite, not the fairings.

@TexanUSMC8089 Yes, I noticed the movie clip. You did notice where I said "might plausibly be built", didn't you? As for ways to open Starship, what does that have to do with anything? That's certainly not a second stage contained within a fairing on the first stage...

Incredible production value on that presentation, absolutely gorgeous visuals! I'm really digging the retro-scifi look of that bulbous form factor with its fixed landing legs that look almost like classic fins. Being so short and stocky I bet the limit on upper level winds is raised vs finer rockets which will be a nice bonus for on-time launches. I had to laugh at the subtle shade you threw on unnamed shiny rocket and its overcomplicated engines

The Neutron's apparently fixed landing leg/fins is not desirable. Having open frame legs like the SpaceX StarHopper would be more stable during tail-first descent instead of covering the structural tubing with panels to look like fins. Unless you _want_ the stage to fall partially broadside; then broad tail fins are needed to compensate for the density of engines at the back. Spreading out the "footprint" baseline would be a great landing stability improvement, while contraction of the baseline would improve launch aerodynamics. So the legs should swing in and out.

Healthy competition for SpaceX! Great job, rocket lab! I bought some shares today because I like the direction you are going. Keep it up!

@Wrong Crowd This is not a short term buy for this stock. Anyone who buys this for short term doesn't understand the market. RKLB is a long term play. They are not going to deliver this vehicle until at least 2024, so the stock is a buy until then

Unfortunately the share price has tanked since this announcement. Hopefully only short term.

Suspending the 2nd stage in tension is brilliant. Also love making the fairing part of the first stage. Awesome innovations.

Incorporating the fairing into the booster is genius. I'm looking forward to seeing this fly.

Fantastic! With this kind of attitude (not constantly overhyping), humble, and loving the crash tests!

Very impressive. Nicely picked at SpaceX, too :D I have a feeling these two are gonna coexist in the future, SpaceX with it's sheer craziness and ambition, and RocketLab with sensible, intelligent designs. I'm very excited for you guys!

I have a feeling that rocket lab will build a version of starship too. they always say they won't do X but then they'll do exactly X.

@Sea Cake You are talking as if Starship already flied, lol.

@TREX BBALL yea right, I guess I can't express myself on paper 😅 I didn't mean to say SX is not sensible at all.

So spacex's designs are not sensible and intelligent? LMAO. SpaceX wants to go to Mars while Rocketlab wants to send small sats into space. Totally different goals. Ask rocketlab if they can build a carbon composite as big as starship and its booster.

SpaceX is going all out with Starship which the Neutron never competes against, they will coexist for sure, cubesat companies are probably looking at Neutron in ecstasy, NASA and Space Observatories are looking at Starship for interplanetary missions.

Dang man, this is epic! I’ve loved how SpaceX has evolved the rocket industry, but this is really taking it to another level. Good for all the team at RocketLab. Can’t wait to see where this goes next!

Neutron is an excellent rocket concept from Rocket Lab and I can't wait to see it perform. This definitely looks like a rocket of the future 👏🙌👏

This was amazing and I just have to say how unique musk has made this period of time, everything he touches breeds competition and innovation. Electric cars, batteries, renewable energy, renewable rockets. It's like watching an artist invent genres

This is the first time one of these presentations has made me feel something in a while. I'm really hyped for Rocket Lab! 🚀☮️🎊

Well done. The more companies that take SpaceX’s Courage and success and follow the footsteps of their achievements with reusability. The better.

The more companies that out innovate spacex the better. Monopolies shouldn't exist.

This will be a exciting century for space exploration, good luck guys.

Awesome display and video definitely a doable design 🤔 way to go Rocket Lab👏

@John Houbolt you've trolled every comment on this video that has more than 3 responses. Please stop. I'd like to see some actual conversations. Nobody is learning anything by engaging with you

It's our last chance before there is so much space junk that we can never leave

@John Houbolt we will see who will fail;) only time will tell but i really hope for rocket lab to succeed too

I love this video! This is a representation of a great company that can acknowledge who the industry leading company is, (SpaceX) but can also make playful jabs at them to show even tho they've been inspired heavily by SpaceX, Rocket lab isn't afraid to do their own thing. Blue Origin could learn a lot from Rocket Lab, but they probably won't

This is awesome! I love it. Now we need to keep in mind that Starship/Superheavy are designed to have Starship land on other planets or return to earth, while the Rocket Lab second stage is disposable. Perfect for their purpose if the cost works out right. Stainless steel is much easier to work with and modify with rapid iterations. Also, when you scale up the size of the vehicles, the weight issues are less competitive. Carbon fiber in a resin matrix has less strength at the temperature extremes, stainless steel is stronger at cryo temps and can withstand far higher temps of re-entry. All that being said, I think Rocket Lab Neutron will be a solid competitor in that disposable second stage category!

@DigitalGrease got it. Carbon fiber could be the right solution once a design becomes perfected.

@Jsmith In the case of Neutron, it is essentially the same as the booster of a Falcon 9 or Starship, the ceramic tiles are needed for orbital return, not for the booster. I assume that the Electron experience has shown them that their booster section in carbon fiber can withstand the heat in the suborbital return. I agree about the fairing mechanism, and it is yet to be determined how their integrated landing legs will fare compared the the Falcon 9 style of legs. Fun stuff! Elon said recently that with stainless steel, "if you need to add something, just weld it on!" Much faster iteration and modification.

Exactly. This rocket is going to need a lot more ceramic tiles due to the carbon fiber shell which probably offsets all of the weight savings of ceramic vs stainless. The integrated faring is cool but will require serious motors and support which will increase weight.

I absolutely love Rocket Lab‘s presentations. Clear, crisp to the point and incredibly cool!

Love Rocketlab’s approach to reusability, can’t wait to see the first launch!

Man Peter, you've got the art of presentation down! I'm super excited to see this thing next year.

I'm very excited for this. I hope you guys someday own your own orbital spaceport.

They have had their own spaceport for 4 years.https://youtu.be/VA_8HPsua0c

@TexanUSMC8089 Seriously? They have been launching Electron from their private spaceport at Mahia here in New Zealand for 4 years! https://youtu.be/VA_8HPsua0c

@Nate Nobles lmao

@Bob Ross Plush Owning one, and designing one on a computer are very different.

@Bob Ross Plush It was so private he didn’t know.

Loved it, can’t wait to see your team get this thing flying!

What a wonderful time to live. Thank you Peter for delivering everyone's dream :) To the stars!!

Wow! Peter always gives such great presentations. I can't wait to see Neutron in action, it truly is a futuristic rocket.

This mustve been one of the best videos ive ever seen, that was amazing! I cant wait to see what the future holds :)

Looks like by waiting they have been able to learn from everyone else's designs, successes and failures, and mix all the best ideas into one. The fairing is brilliant and an idea that was pitched to X but not in this fashion. Hope to see it live up to the design. Would be awesome

It's like staring into the future. I'm sure a lot of these competitive an innovative projects will be beneficial to the wider community in the future. Well done Rocket Lab and all space agencies.

Impressive. We have to move the ball foreword to full reusability. Ultimately, a pressurized volume already in space is a resource all it's own. The only issue I can see is if they try to man-rate it. Customers are almost certain to demand a launch escape system, and that otherwise brilliant faring would complicate things. I'm guessing they would need a separate, interchangeable "2nd Segment" capable of detaching in an emergency to allow a manned craft to escape, with integrated pusher rockets and a parachute.

Love this! This is what we need for further space endeavors! (Really love the name of the Archimedes engine btw)

I didn't think any modern rocket designs could look more classic cartoony than starship, I stand corrected. This is gonna be awesome!

@Juliusz Kociński Currently it only looks a bit cartoony-ish, Neutron just looks more cartoony.

Hmmm Does new Starship really look that Caroony? I would say it peaked in this regard when it was called BFR (I mean this vesrion of design)

Amazing presentation. Second stage in the fairing is a beautiful idea. More engineered than anything starship has to propose.

Always awesome to watch a presentation of rocketlab, always so engaging, so well presented.

This and the video where Peter ate his hat are awesome. Hope he keeps doing these kinds of presentations. It definitely helps keep me interested as an investor although I base my investment decisions on way more than promotional videos.

Gracias Peter por esa pasión que transmites por la ciencia y la tecnología. Rocket Lab me inspira a seguir construyendo un futuro posible.

Damn 🔥 it's crazy 🤩 future is here ❤️

@Outdoor Explorer indeed

I love this video! This is a representation of a great company that can acknowledge who the industry leading company is, (SpaceX) but can also make playful jabs at them to show even tho they've been inspired heavily by SpaceX, Rocket lab isn't afraid to do their own thing. Blue Origin could learn a lot from Rocket Lab, but they probably won't

I absolutely wish you the best with this, guys. You have a HUGE engineering challenge ahead of you, however. Cheers!

I have to say I was impressed by the simplicity of the presentation. However, I was curious to see what they had in store for the heat generated on re-entry. Carbon composite can’t withstand the heat on its own so they would need a solution for this. Heat shields might complicate their design for payload fairing component. Also, spacex doesn’t need to land on a barge in the ocean every time. They are actually fully capable in landing back on the pad. It really depends on the payload requirement, orbit, etc. All in all I wish these guys luck in their attempt at full reusability. The biggest challenge they face is not going bankrupt before being able to monetize this thing. Great name. Great marketing. But until we see functioning prototypes I wouldn’t be saying anything bad about SpaceX just yet. 👍🏽

Wow! I did not expect such an amazing rocket design. Also, great job presenting the rocket, I was very intrigued.

Wow, nice presentation. Very ambitious and bold! While I'm rooting more for SX, I do think competition will benefit the industry as whole and increase the pace of innovation. Very good time to be a space enthusiast!

Great presentation! I love all the little digs at SpaceX (though I'm so excited private companies are working on this)

Neutron's looking exciting! The choice to implement the fairings into the structure of the first stage like that is daring and refreshing! I really look forward to see it in action in the coming years!

It's not really a new thing to design fairings like that. It will definitely be something new if they're actually built and work though.

Fantastic presentation and work RL team. Going to be an amazing next decade in the space industry

I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing this. Absolutely beautiful.

The Gospel of Neutron according to Saint Peter. Very exciting! Let's go Rocket Lab!

Oh yes I forget that the lord is everywhere...

Why u everywhere on yt?!

You know your doing something right when verified Jesus Christ says good job

Dear Jesus, please bless Neutron with a lot of onboard cameras, so that we can enjoy that heavenly ride as ordinary plebs. Amen.

Yo sup Jesus

This looks awesome. I also like the very confident tone he’s adopted and the subtle competitive shade he’s throwing at other launchers: stainless steel and barge landings (SpaceX), challenges & slow speed of metal 3-D printing (Relativity), and “when we say we’re gonna do something, we do it” (Blue Origin). This is real competition and it’s a good thing for the industry.

It's easy to talk

Awesome presentation! Go for it team Rocket Lab, I'm rooting for all of you!

Holy crap! What an awesome time to be alive, can't wait to see another rocket truly from the future (next to starship, this is getting really close though)

Fantastic presentation Peter. You will be changing the game with this one. Go Rocket Lab!

I like everything about it. Peter, sounds like you're talking directly to Musk when you offer your alternatives for reusability. I find them great, I wish you the best and hope there aren't any snags in the way!

@H T He also said "up until now there hasn't been a vehicle optimized to deploy constellation satellites" which is ignoring SpaceX and Starlink IMO. I'm not a SpaceX fan boy, but a lot of what he is talking about hasn't been proven yet (have yet to fire the "new engine" or build a prototype) and won't be until 2024. I hope they do succeed, as competition drives innovation, but this is more of an unproven sales pitch than anything right now.

@Micah Fischer he literally talked about their nuetron's design with respect to falcon9's and how they differ

With all these different rival geniuses coming up with different solutions, the consumer is the ultimate winner.

@J They also said that ITS would be flying today, and the Dragon capsule would prepulsively land.

@Micah Fischer There are some new ideas here: 1) integrate fairing into 1st stage and return them together to launchpad - this promises faster turnaround (even compared to F9) 2) taper the design to reduce thermal heating 3) fixed landing base/legs means less moving parts and again probably would reduce turnaround compared to F9 where the legs need to be reconfigured manually 4) Use of RocketLabs automated fiber placement method to increase speed/reduce cost of manufacturing a carbon fiber frame attaining a fairly large lightweight rocket at more reasonable cost (albeit i guess its still much more than steel, but if its reuseable that is somewhat mitigated). Every new idea does not need to come from SpaceX in order to be good. I'm glad there is a competition of ideas, good for Space in general.

Oh my god is this amazing. The design is brilliant! Because the 1st stage is carbon, its empty mass is probably a lot lighter and because it's thicker the cross section is also wider which all means it probably glides much better than the Falcon 9, which means lower fuel costs for return to launch site! The 2nd stage being inside the fairing saves weight too since the 2nd stage never have to carry the load of the fairings, not to mention the fairings not detaching saving a lot of refurbishment time.

Very informative presentation that makes a lot of sense. I can see the open/close fairings and and return to launch pad capability making this a real success that will be duplicated by others.

Rocket Lab isn't the first to design or make a video of fairings like this. We'll see what they come up with after they build a working engine and rocket. It was a great presentation though.

Electron is an amazing machine. Neutron looks like a an insanely good next generation rocket. I cannot wait to see Proton in hopefully a near future.

Love it! Great engineering principles and choices!

That ramming segment is going to be gold for the meme makers... Best of luck with Neutron it looks very promising. As always, RocketLab thinking outside the box!

@Hal Nordmann Now that's some interesting and all, but it doesn't detract from what I said. It's not being funded, there are not actual hardware for Mars colonisation being built other than Starship. Engineers will have to make do with a 100 tons to mars, unless NASA suddenly gets a few extra zeros added to it's budget in the next decade.

@5000mahmud Actually, the only thing DRM has in common with Mars Direct is the idea of ISRU for the return lander. It has far more in common with the Apollo-era Mars plans, and Zubrin famously hated it for some reason.

@Hal Nordmann I know of the NSWR, don’t know how that relates to this unless thought experiments are no longer allowed. Its basically a continuous Orion drive and one of the few torch drives that are theoretically possible under the laws of physics. Actually trying to make a practical engine out of it is something else entirely, and was never the intention of the paper so I’m not sure how that discredits him. DRM, constellation and SEI are long dead. DRM was based on MD (so clearly NASA thought there was some value in MD) constellation lead to the SLS mess. All those plans haven’t been funded, even if they are far more optimised and efficient than starship, so they’re all unfeasible until actual hardware is built like Starship.

@5000mahmud For an alternative plan, look up NASA's DRMs, Constellation Mars or the Space Exploration Initiative. Mars Direct was just planned as "Apollo 2.0", with the same problem of not building any lasting infrastructure, and with the same prospect of being cancelled once the "goal" is fulfilled. And Zubrin is weird, since one of his other "good ideas" is a rocket engine powered by a continuous nuclear blast. No, really - look up Nuclear Salt Water Rocket.

​@Hal Nordmann A single vehicle for all those roles is all we are going to get, all that's governments will be willing to actually fund. The SPS study, MD, etc were never going to be built. It's not ideal, it's not optimised, but it is what is actually being built, and for that alone it beats all those paper studies. And on the topic of Zubrin's MD plan, it was always meant to be more a starting point for mars colonisation. A study backed up with actual numbers. The details of mars colonisation will be done and worked out once we can actually get multi ton payloads to mars and back, because until then all mars colonisation plans are equally unfeasible. Besides, Zubrin isn't some crackpot and his original MD plan has been revised multiple times as our launch capability changed, unless you have a reliable source that offers an alternative plan I'm inclined to trust his study.

Always an Elon fan, but I have to give credit where it's due. Amazing presentation, and kudos for keeping your word about eating your hat! You have my respect, and I look forward to seeing what the company will accomplish!

This is incredible. I wasn’t impressed with the old Neutron design but this one is incredible!

Wow this is next level cool, all the best to Team RL, man I wish I could work for with these guys - Go Rocket Lab! all the best for an awesome 2022

love seeing all this innovation from these private companies. great stuff... love spacex but we need lots of competition that creates great innovation.

"When we say we're going do something, we do it." I love that line. Shot at Bezos' company. I hope Neutron will be flying next year.

Excellent. Thanks for moving the world forward. Elon's smart so expect him to copy whatever works. I'm rooting for both companies.

Rocket Labs is one of the most impressive companies I have seen in recent times. The main reason I love what they are doing - they are just doing it. A little NZ startup launching Electron on regular basis growing to something like this. Congrats Rocket Labs, you are a great example of being able to just getting out and doing it. Really look forward to this companies impact on the space industry as a whole - I like they are doing things a little differently. Quick question. Is it possible their release method could also be used to capture old space junk? Ie, launch one, retrieve one? That could be a big deal. I know there are other factors involved there, fuel, trajectory etc. But is it a reasonable prospect for some of the bigger "junk" up there?

Absolutely in awe, bravo Rocket Lab. The future looks breathtaking.

The fairings closing back and the shape that reduces thermic shocks are the best ideas overall, i can't wait to see it go! :D

@Code Tech Might be a case of "Reality is weirder than fiction" :D I mean, until it's tested in an actual flight we should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Yes, the best idea from a 1967 James Bond movie.

@Volo TeX other than the shape to make it stable and slow, is it doesnt need the thermal protection because it is not in orbital velocity? The videos show that it lookslike in higher altitude than other rocket first stage.

The shape should also help the 1. stage remaining stable on re-entry.

1 of the most exciting rocket companies alongside Space X, really impressive

Looks great, cant wait to see it fly! Competition really does create innovation!

Love these guys. Love SpaceX, RocketLab, Astra, the rest of them too. Great time to be alive

Thank you for sharing your amazing progress work us! What a great presentation 🙂

I wish I got to see the same weekly coverage of Rocket Lab's development like we get with SpaceX.

So glad I invested in Rocket Lab. They have so much momentum and promising space technology.

I'm blown away! So happy for this AMAZING company!

Looks awesome! Can’t wait to see it fly 🔥

Carbon composit, methane, reusable. That's what I call a 2050 rocket. So proud seeing you guys coming up with such clever projects. You worried me a bit when I saw the design , I thought it was a SSTO, but I took it back immediately. Best of luck...

@voongnz Batteries become dead weight after being depleted and they're not in line with Rocket Lab's goal of rapid reuse. They would be throwing away batteries like they already do now and it would be an extra cost to relaunch

In 1950, people knew the technology of 2050 would be flying saucers, not rockets.

Let's admit, though: if RL were to do a SSTO, they'd do it right

@voongnz I believe that we can see both new battery tech and reusable second stage in the upcoming years as an update. But trying re-entry for the first time is hell of a complicated engineering problem on its own. So the design we're seeing right now is very good sign of what to come.

Yup, although I was hoping a 2050 rocket would have newer battery tech to run the fuel and oxidizer pumps for the larger engines.

Fantastic! With this kind of attitude (not constantly overhyping), humble, and loving the crash tests!

Great Presentation. What kind of or amount of protection does that composite material have against radiation? Will heat shielding be required with this composite material? If so, what kind of heat shielding will you be looking into for your 2050 style rocket of the future?

The carbon composite demo is really cool, I do wonder how it performs over the temperature range though.

Captivating presentation and interesting design choices. I'm looking forward to Scott Manley's analysis!

Love the not-so-subtle digs at SpaceX! I'm a great fan of SpaceX but really enjoying the rivalry that's growing. Thank you Rocket Labs for presenting an alternate vision of rapidly reusable space launching vehicles that will revolutionise space access and travel. You guys are the true rivals to SpaceX that will hopefully drive each other to greater achievements. Much better than Jeff Who? that spend decades building a super-expensive theme park ride. Yes, he probably built it for himself and decided he might as well make some money off it. Wished Australia was able to participate but sadly our glory days of being at the leading edge of rocketeering appear gone at Woomera. Still, if regular Neutron launches become reality I'd love to hop over the ditch and come experience a launch and landing!

Looks like by waiting they have been able to learn from everyone else's designs, successes and failures, and mix all the best ideas into one. The fairing is brilliant and an idea that was pitched to X but not in this fashion. Hope to see it live up to the design. Would be awesome

Thanks everyone at Rocket Lab! this is truly inspiring!

I am excited to see Neutron making progress, but I am also interested in the implications that its development will have on a possible Proton rocket in the future.

That is amazing. Great visuals and presentation.. Honestly surprised that you guys chose carbon composite. If you guys can pull it off, it's gonna be wild! Rocket design looks simple and elegant without severe complexity. Love what you guys are going for here.. Wishing you all the best! Can't wait to see the test fire of the new archimedes engine

I wonder if carbon composites will maintain its strength under cyclic thermal stress from entering and exiting LEO. The tapered body design means he is simply diverting longitudinal stress to hoop stress, so how the carbon composites is layered will have handle forces from all 3 directions instead of primarily from 1. Risky game I hope it pays off for him.

Carbon composite is the obvious choice for them, they've already proven they have great expertise with it

@CirrusFlyer H I know that's my favorite part. LMAO!!!

@Outdoor Explorer Blue Origin wont learn a thing. The only thing Blue Origin will launch any time soon in response to this is a Law Suit claiming title to the term “ if we say we gonna do it, then we do it”

Their current rocket electron is already carbon composite

Very exciting! Looks like a brilliant design. We'll be cheering you on.

Excellent presentation! Flawless logical design, elegant and beautiful. I love the carbon composite material use. I shuddered when elon scrapped the composite rocket idea

Rapid reuse with an 8 ton payload to LEO with retained fairings is going to be game changing! This easily and handily outcompetes every other launch provider by a huge amount (save for Starship, but that thing is just ridiculous)!

WOW So exciting, Such simplicity - yet so well thought through.

honestly my favorite part is reloading a new second stage and payload in one go. Because the second stage "hangs" inside of the first, you can do the payload mating in advance and then drop the whole thing in when the first stage gets back. It's awesome.

@Aerospacer the term Recover implies you bring the object down to earth. That means you have to land it which requires the first stage which requires the first stage to be at orbital velocity to bring it back.

@David Whiting Sorry, incomplete phrase. "The 1st stage is capable" should be understood as "of getting half of the orbital speed."

@Aerospacer ummmmm no. The first stage most definitely does not get to orbit…

@David Whiting The last phrase is incorrect. The 1st stage is capable, moreover, this has been done for a long time on some other space rockets, for example, Antares. But the 2nd stage is really not suitable for bringing the satellite out of orbit, and this is not necessary, for such a task a few grams of thrust is enough. It is more important to reduce the propellant weight.

@Mike Love no that won’t happen. To recover you have to get your recovery vehicle to orbit and then have enough delta v left to slow down and land. The first stage only gets to like 6000 or 7000, maybe 8000 khp before letting the second stage loose. Second stage then gets the payload up to 17,500 kph for orbital velocity. The first stage isnt even capable of getting half of the speed needed for orbital velocities.

I LOVE Peter Beck, and he's picked his market PERFECTLY by going for the small/mid sat launches which comprise the core of the orbital industry.

Congratulation on the presentation Rocket Lab. I think the best part of the new design was 100% hanging the second stage. Genius way to save mass where it matters most.

That’s awesome I can see it now SpaceX and Rocket Lab working together on carbon composites for interplanetary missions maybe could even carry neutrons to the moon possibly 🚀

He explains this in a way anyone can follow. Very good. I did feel it made a few digs at Space X.

I was pumped and up for it, but the faring returning with the first stage made me go bonkers! That's so cool! Can't wait to see it launch!

Looking forward to meeting Neutron. Outstanding presentation Peter. Just bought a bit of your stock. Excited to see how RL grows and succeeds! But, is there a chance you can get some more RL hats in soon?? I would love to buy a few of them!!

y'all are absolute madlads with this idea and I have high hopes for this to succeed! SpaceX is most definitely the ones with some of the best rocketry but they are also paving the way for more companies like Rocket lab to become better and perfect what SpaceX started!

I'm a huge SpaceX fan, but I must (Musk?) say that this is a very innovative way to build a rocket. Also, I suspect that the design was slightly influenced by "You Only Live Twice". Looking forward to both Starship and Neutron!