Rocket Lab has just announced that it is building its largest rocket to date as it seeks to take on SpaceX and other players in the commercial space launch market. Even more tantalizing is the fact that the new Neutron rocket will be Rocket Lab's first vehicle capable of carrying humans into space. Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck revealed the news in a video (top) released on Monday, March 1. The Neutron rocket will be reusable and tailored for "mega-constellation deployment, interplanetary missions, and human spaceflight," the company said, though it didn't lay out any timeline for the possible astronaut flights. The new vehicle will be 40 meters tall and capable of carrying a payload of up to 8,000 kilograms into low-Earth orbit. For comparison, SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has a height of 70 meters and can carry payloads of up to 22,800 kg into low-Earth orbit. Based in New Zealand and the U.S., Rocket Lab has been using its smaller Electron rocket to deploy small satellites into low-Earth orbit for a range of companies, with 18 launches to date. Rocket Lab's upcoming Neutron rocket (below) will be just over twice as tall as the Electron, which… Read full this story
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