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Rocket Lab opens their Archimedes engine test stand at NASA’ s Stennis Space Center

Neutron will be powered by an entirely new rocket engine, Archimedes. Designed and manufactured in-house by Rocket Lab, Archimedes is a reusable liquid oxygen / methane gas generator cycle engine capable of 1 meganewton thrust and 320 seconds of ISP. Seven Archimedes engines will propel Neutron’s first stage, with a single vacuum optimized Archimedes engine on the second stage. Neutron’s lightweight carbon composite structure means Archimedes does not need the immense performance and complexity typically associated with larger rockets and their propulsion systems. By developing a simple engine with modest performance requirements, the timeline for development and testing can be drastically accelerated.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has now kicked off operations for testing the Archimedes engine with a ribbon cutting ceremony at NASA’s historic Stennis Space Center in Mississippi — the Archimedes Test Complex will be home to engine testing for the 165,000 lbf (pound force) engines to be used on Rocket Lab’s reusable Neutron rocket.

Rocket Lab’s Vice President of Launch Systems, Shaun D’Mello, Senator Roger Wicker, Stennis Space Center Director Dr. Richard Gilbrech, and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith participated in a ribbon cutting to kick off operations at Rocket Lab’s Archimedes Test Complex for the Neutron launch vehicle at Stennis Space Center. (Photo: Business Wire)

The Archimedes Test Complex is located across a 1 million square foot area at the Stennis Space Center’s A Test Complex and includes use and development of existing infrastructure of the A-3 Test Stand to develop and test Neutron’s Archimedes engines. With the opening of the Archimedes Test Complex, Rocket Lab will be able to create dozens of new jobs and make significant capital investments in the state of Mississippi.

Neutron is Rocket Lab’s reusable rocket in development, designed as a cost-effective, reliable, and responsive launch service to help build mega-constellations, deliver large spacecraft to low-Earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and interplanetary destination. Neutron is also being designed to be human spaceflight capable in future.

Rocket Lab Founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said, “It was only a few weeks ago when we announced Stennis as the location of our Archimedes Test Complex and we’re already fast at work to get the site up and running to deliver Neutron. Thanks to our partnership with NASA and the state of Mississippi, we can begin to develop the existing infrastructure and test stand at Stennis to fast-track Neutron’s first launch. We look forward to breathing fire in the great state of Mississippi.”

Rocket Lab Vice President of Launch Systems, Shaun D’Mello, said, “It is thrilling to say we’ve reached the next step in the development of Neutron as we begin operations at the Archimedes Test Complex at Stennis. We are excited to tap into the workforce in the area to fast track Neutron’s development.”