Critical Analysis of Rocket Lab Neutron Launcher and Missions

Kurzfassung

Neutron is a two-stage launcher currently in development by the US-New Zealand company Rocket Lab. It is an innovative design featuring unique characteristics like a fixed fairing, an enclosed hung upper stage, fully carbon fiber structure and reusability via return-to-launch-site without an atmospheric entry burn. In order to analyze the impact of these features, this study is a critical analysis of the Neutron launcher based on the data available as well as numerous in-house calculations and assessments.