Vector-R (Vector Rapid) is a
two-stage orbital
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 ...
under 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). Vector Launch went bankrupt in December 2019 and re-emerged in October 2020. Two prototypes were launched in 2017.
The rocket completed a maiden test flight at low altitude in May 2017. Vector Launch was planning the maiden orbital launch from the
Pacific Spaceport Complex in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
in 2019, but paused operation in August 2019 due to an uncertain financing situation.
An upgraded version of the Vector-R, called the
Vector-H (Heavy), is in development as well.
Design
Vector-R plans to use two stages with a diameter first stage and diameter second stage, both filled with
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 ...
/
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 ...
propellant. The main body of the rocket will be constructed using a lightweight carbon composite material.
The launch vehicle's first stage was to be powered by three
LP-1 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 ...
engines, delivering 81,000
newtons of force. The second stage was to be powered by one
LP-2 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.
Vector was aiming the rocket at a launch cadence of 100 vehicles per year.
Block 0.1
The first two
sub-orbital
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...
flight tests used the Vector-R Block 0.1 prototype model,
which was a full size aluminum air-frame of the Vector-R but with only one first stage engine.
Vector-RE1
The Vector-RE1, a planned variant, was planned to use the same body as the standard Vector-R but include an electric powered third stage.
Intended usage
Vector-R was designed to launch a payload to a
Sun-synchronous orbit, suitable for
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 and other
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 ...
s. The cost per launch was planned to be less than , a price point that the company hoped would have allowed it to attract one hundred launches per year. Customers could have chosen to encapsulate their spacecraft in payload fairings provided by the company, which could be attached to the rocket shortly before launch, in several different configurations, such as fitting CubeSats dispensers or multiple satellites in a single fairing.
Vector used on-site payload integration for the early launches. However it was expected to be able to integrate payloads at their Arizona and California payload facilities and ship them to their launch sites.
Launch sites
Vector-R launched from the
Mojave Air and Space Port
The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a s ...
and
Spaceport Camden for its flight tests. It had completed one test flight from each pad. Flight B0.002 was also the first launch from Spaceport Camden.
Vector planned to use the
LC-46 launch site in Florida and the
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad 0B for the Vector-R rocket, with the first all-up launches would have occurred from MARS Pad 0B. Additionally, Vector investigated adding more minimal infrastructure launch pads either located on land in the US, or to launch the rocket from barges on the ocean.
Vector had planned for the maiden orbital launch from
Kodiak Spaceport Launch Complex earlier in 2019.
Launch statistics
Two low altitude suborbital test flights were performed in 2017.
Launch sites
Launch outcomes
Launch history
Planned launches
Due to the bankruptcy and subsequent re-emergence of Vector, These launches are uncertain.
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