INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Rocket launch startup Rocket Lab is all about building out rapid-response space-launch capabilities, and founder/CEO Peter Beck is showing
off its latest advancement in service of that goal: A room-sized manufacturing robot named &Rosie.&
Rosie is tasked with processing the
carbon composite components of Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle
That translates to basically getting the rocket flight-ready, and there a lot involved in that — it a process that normally can take
&hundreds of hours,& according to Beck
So how fast can Rosie manage the same task?
&We can produce one launch vehicle in this machine every 12 hours,& Beck says in the video
That includes &every bit of marking, every bit of machining, every bit of drilling,& he adds.
Meet Rosie
She processes Electron's composite stages in just 12 hours
pic.twitter.com/NcC34Ylg66
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) November 13, 2019
This key new automation tool essentially takes something that was
highly bespoke and manual and turns it into something eminently repeatable and expedited, which is a necessary ingredient if Rocket Lab is
ever to accomplish its goal of providing high-frequency launches to small satellite customers with very little turnaround time
The company New Zealand launch facility recently landed an FAA license that helps sketch out the extent of its ambition, as it technically
cleared to launch rockets as often as every 72 hours.
In addition to innovations like Rosie, Rocket Lab uses 3D printing for components of
its launch vehicle engines that result in single-day turnaround for production, versus weeks using more traditional methods
It also now working on an ambitious plan for rocket recovery, which should help further with providing high-frequency launch capabilities as
it&ll mean they don&t have to build entirely new launch vehicles for every mission.
