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Vector-H (Vector Heavy) was a planned two-stage or three-stage orbital
Vector Space planned to use the LC-46 launch site in Florida, Spaceport Camden, and Pacific Spaceport Complex. Additionally Vector Space investigated adding more minimal infrastructure launch pads either located on land in the US, or to launch the rocket from barges on the ocean.
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expendable
''Expendable'' is a science fiction novel by the Canadian author James Alan Gardner, published in 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints.Avon Books; HarperCollins Canada; SFBC/AvoNova. Paperback edition 1997, Eos Books. It i ...
launch vehicle
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload ( spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and ...
in development by the American aerospace company Vector Launch to cover the commercial small satellite
A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...
launch segment (CubeSat
A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
s). It was planned to be an expanded version of the Vector-R rocket, more than doubling the payload capacity. After Vector Launch ceased operations in December 2019, the future development of the rocket is unofficially canceled.
Design
Vector-H would have used two stages, both 1.2 m in diameter, filled with Propylene/LOX propellant. The main body of the rocket was planned to be constructed using a lightweight carbon composite material. The launch vehicle's first stage would have been powered by six LP-1LOX
Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an appli ...
/propylene
Propylene, also known as propene, is an unsaturated organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CH=CH2. It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. It is a colorless gas with a faint petro ...
engines, delivering 81,000 newtons of force. The second stage would have been powered by one LP-3 LOX
Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an appli ...
/propylene
Propylene, also known as propene, is an unsaturated organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CH=CH2. It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. It is a colorless gas with a faint petro ...
engine, delivering 4,400 newtons of force. The engines used a 3D-printed engine injector, designed with help from NASA's Science, Technology and Mission Directorate (STMD) Flight Opportunities program. This allows the injector to be produced as a single piece of hardware, instead of as individual components. The vehicle was also planned to include an optional third stage powered by a solid rocket motor
A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used in warfare by the Arabs, Chinese, Persia ...
. This would have allowed the upper stage to boost micro satellites into a higher orbit.
Vector-HE1
The Vector-HE1 planned variant was to have the same body as the standard Vector-H but include an electric powered third stage.Intended usage
Vector-H was designed to launch a payload to a Sun-synchronous orbit, suitable forCubeSat
A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
s and other small payloads. The cost would have been less than , a price point that the company hoped will allow it to attract one hundred launches per year. Customers could have choose to encapsulate their spacecraft in payload fairings provided by the company, which could be easily attached to the rocket shortly before launch, in several different configurations, such as fitting CubeSats dispensers or multiple satellites in a single fairing.
Vector would have used on-site payload integration for the early launches. However it expected to be able to integrate payloads at their Arizona and California Payload Facilities and ship them to their launch sites.
Launch sites
Vector Space planned to use the LC-46 launch site in Florida, Spaceport Camden, and Pacific Spaceport Complex. Additionally Vector Space investigated adding more minimal infrastructure launch pads either located on land in the US, or to launch the rocket from barges on the ocean./ref>
See also
*Small-lift launch vehicle
A small-lift launch vehicle is a rocket orbital launch vehicle that is capable of lifting or less (by NASA classification) or under (by Roscosmos classification) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). The next larger category consists of med ...
References
{{Orbital launch systems Microsatellite launch vehicles