Rutherford (rocket engine)
Sea Level Rutherford Engine
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| Country of origin | New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Designer | Rocket Lab |
| Manufacturer | Rocket Lab |
| Application | First and second stage engine |
| Status | In production |
| Liquid-fuel engine | |
| Propellant | LOX / RP-1 |
| Cycle | Electric pump-fed engine |
| Pumps | 2 x Electric pump |
| Configuration | |
| Chamber | 1 |
| Performance | |
| Thrust (vac.) | 4,900 lbf (22 kN) |
| Thrust (SL) | 4,000 lbf (18 kN) |
| Isp (vac.) | 333 s (3.27 km/s) |
| Isp (SL) | 303 s (2.97 km/s) |
| Used in | |
| Electron LV | |
| References | |
| References | |
Rutherford is a liquid propellant rocket engine, designed in New Zealand by Rocket Lab and manufactured in the United States. It uses LOX and kerosene as its propellants and is the first flight-ready engine to use the electric pump feed cycle. It is used on the company's own rocket, Electron. This is a similar arrangement to the Falcon 9, using nine identical engines on the first stage and one, optimized for vacuum operation with a longer nozzle, on the second stage. The sea level version produces 18 kN (4,000 lbf) of thrust and has a specific impulse of 303 s (2.97 km/s), while the vacuum optimized version produces 22 kN (4,900 lbf) of thrust and has a specific impulse of 333 s (3.27 km/s).
It was qualified for flight in March 2016 and had its first flight on May 25, 2017.
Rutherford, named after New Zealand scientist Ernest Rutherford, is a small liquid propellant rocket engine designed to be simple and cheap to produce. It is used as both a first stage and as a second stage engine, which simplifies logistics and improves economies of scale. To reduce its cost, it uses the electric pump feed cycle, being the first flight-ready engine of such type. It is fabricated largely by 3D printing, via a method called electron beam melting. Its combustion chamber, injectors, pumps, and main propellant valves are all 3D printed.
As with all pump-fed engines, the Rutherford uses a rotodynamic pump to increase the pressure from the tanks to that needed by the combustion chamber. The use of a pump avoids the need for heavy tanks capable of holding high pressures and the high amount of gas needed to pressurize them and replaces them with a pump.
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Wikipedia