You know how we developed a spacecraft to go to the Moon? And Mars? And spacecraft capable of reentry? And large communications constellation satellites? Rem...

Rocket Lab is giving their various spacecraft platforms unique names, rather than calling them all “Photon”.

  • Photon: The basic kick-stage + power, propulsion, and communications.
  • Explorer: Optimized for lunar and interplanetary missions.
  • Pioneer: Capable of re-entry and payload return to Earth.
  • Lightning: Optimized for long-term communications and sensing in LEO.
  • Dave@lemmy.nzM
    4·
    9 months ago

    That’s awesome! I looked forward to following this stuff.

    I can’t believe a rocket launched from NZ to orbit the moon and I had no idea!