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Awesome! Their NZ office is just 10 minutes from my house, I was going to apply for a C++ dev role with them but was warned by the recruiter that everyone was expected to work 12 hours a day, so unfortunately I had to give it a miss as I wasn't comfortable with that.
Awesome! Their NZ office is just 10 minutes from my house, I was going to apply for a C++ dev role with them but was warned by the recruiter that everyone was expected to work 12 hours a day, so unfortunately I had to give it a miss as I wasn't comfortable with that.
I'm in a similar position to yourself here. Would love to apply as I think working on something essentially similar to a space program would be incredible, but as someone who values days off and a work-life balance, I cannot commit to that level of employment. It's a shame RocketLab have adopted such a SpaceX-esque policy of employment. Surely it must be possible to build a rocketry company where employees work only…
Should be noted that while the article calls Rocket Lab a US firm operating in NZ, it's been an NZ firm since its first day, and only went to the US for funding. Exciting news not only because it shows commercial spaceflight is becoming global, but because Rocket Lab has one of the most ambitious launch schedules out there.
Yeah, It's officially a US firm with a NZ subsidiary. But any project like this is a multinational effort - while all the engineering, design, manufacture, operations, etc. are in NZ there is nowhere near enough space expertise located here so the team itself is very multinational.
More detailed article here: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/rocket-labs-electron... Note that the rocket failed to reach orbit as intended.
One fairly interesting note there is that the electric engine that propels the rocket runs at 95% efficiency, in contrast to the 50% efficiency of the standard gas engines of the larger rocket. Is anyone familiar with A) why this is, and B) why the larger companies aren't investigating the use of these electric engines more? Is it too costly/difficult to do at a larger scale?
As I understand it, the electric turbopump makes the plumbing simpler, but it doesn't scale to large engines.
Awesome! Their NZ office is just 10 minutes from my house, I was going to apply for a C++ dev role with them but was warned by the recruiter that everyone was expected to work 12 hours a day, so unfortunately I had to give it a miss as I wasn't comfortable with that.
Of course, it all depends on how passionate you are about space. If I lived in NZ and had the expertise for it (my really serious embedded stints ended in college), I'd be there in a flash.
Designed for small payload 150 - 220 kg for $4.9 million per launch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_(rocket)
Frequent launches, so you can launch CubeSats as main payload, without waiting for one of the big launch which has some extra space: http://spaceflight101.com/2016-space-launch-statistics/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, It's officially a US firm with a NZ subsidiary. But any project like this is a multinational effort - while all the engineering, design, manufacture, operations, etc. are in NZ there is nowhere near enough space expertise located here so the team itself is very multinational.
Question, doesnt ITAR prevent the team from being multinational?
Awesome! Their NZ office is just 10 minutes from my house, I was going to apply for a C++ dev role with them but was warned by the recruiter that everyone was expected to work 12 hours a day, so unfortunately I had to give it a miss as I wasn't comfortable with that.
12 hours a day, but in exchange you get to build spaceships. Of course, it all depends on how passionate you are about space. If I lived in NZ and had the expertise for it (my really serious embedded stints ended in college), I'd be there in a flash.
Should be noted that while the article calls Rocket Lab a US firm operating in NZ, it's been an NZ firm since its first day, and only went to the US for funding. Exciting news not only because it shows commercial spaceflight is becoming global, but because Rocket Lab has one of the most ambitious launch schedules out there.
Yeah, It's officially a US firm with a NZ subsidiary. But any project like this is a multinational effort - while all the engineering, design, manufacture, operations, etc. are in NZ there is nowhere near enough space expertise located here so the team itself is very multinational.
I'm not sure how Rocket Lab splits design/manufacturing but they just moved into an pretty sizable facility in Hungtington Beach, CA a few months ago and I know for a fact that they have engineers and technicians on staff there.
In any case it's great to see them progressing.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Question, doesnt ITAR prevent the team from being multinational?
I've done space projects with US companies and so am fully marinated in ITAR processes. In answer to your question: No, you can get around ITAR by just being careful about what information is imported and exported to and from the US. If there was a US engineering office and an NZ engineering office and all the engineering effort was evenly distributed among the two, it would be a nightmare as you'd be 'exporting US t…