Neutron: A new 8-ton class reusable rocket by Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab revealed her plans for the construction of an 8-tone storage reusable rocket named Neutron. The new rocket opens new avenues for manned missions to the company, apart from sending satellites in low orbits around Earth.

The Neutron launch vehicle is a reusable, eight tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) rocket designed primarily to build satellite constellations. But Neutron will also be designed from the beginning to be capable of resupplying space stations in LEO and even flying crew, yet another market Beck had previously distanced himself from.

The company has established a reputation for successful satellite missions with the Electron rocket, however Neutron plans are extended to interplanetary missions (e.g., Moon, Mars) and to manned missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Furthermore, satellite missions will be different with Neutron because the bigger storage allows Rocket Lab to create a satellite network with only one launch.

Technically, Neutron will be consisted of two stages. It will have a total height of 40m and a diameter of 4.5m, while it will be able to "lift" up to 8 tons in low orbit, up to 2 tons to the Moon and up to 1.5 tons to Mars and Aphrodite. The first stage of the rocket will return back to Earth and will be grounded on a Rocket Lab platform to be reused in the next launch, reducing the company’s cost.

Neutron is quite reminiscent of SpaceX's reusable missiles, but there is a big difference in storage (for instance Falcon Heavy is a 63.8 tones storage). The construction of Neutron is expected to be completed by 2024. Consequently, this would be the year of its first trial.