New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket • Hacker News Board

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#41

Post by toomanybeersies » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 4:35 AM UTC

lancewiggs wrote: post #36

toomanybeersies wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was started in New Zealand, and got its initial investment from New Zealand, but the majority of funding now comes from America and the majority of ownership is American. However, most of the R&D, operations, and manufacturing are done in New Zealand. I almost applied for a job there, but it would've required relocating to Auckland, which I wasn't willing to do.

Come on over - life is amazing here in Auckland.

I actually recently emigrated over the ditch to Melbourne from Wellington.

If I do go back to New Zealand, it would be to Christchurch, where I went to university. The lifestyle in Christchurch is a lot more laid back, more outdoor activities (great skiing and hunting), and rent is a lot cheaper.

Unfortunately the market for Ruby developers is practically non-existent in New Zealand, so I don't think it would be practical for me to move back to NZ for the next 5 years or so.

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#42

Post by soperj » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 4:42 AM UTC

zik wrote: post #37

mikeash wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t generally make the news for doing things others have done before you. Don’t get me wrong, this company is cool and their success is super exciting, but I see no reason for them to get any press coverage outside of specialty media. SpaceX was pretty quiet too when they were first starting out, and when they’re all over the news now it’s generally because they’re doing something new. I doubt nukes have anythi…

RocketLab's doing incredibly innovative things. They're using an entirely new kind of rocket engine power cycle. This is the first new power cycle invented since the Full Flow Staged Combustion Cycle in the 1960s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_pump-fed_engine They're using entirely 3d printed rocket engines and also full carbon composite rocket bodies - another first for a rocket of this scale. Where it come…

don't know why this was down voted, it was informative. Thanks.

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#43

Post by Gibbon1 » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 4:44 AM UTC

inamberclad wrote: post #19

bmiranda wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth mentioning that while electric turbopumps are a lot better that pressure-fed designs, for larger engines they aren't as effective as using pre-burners (due to the weight of the batteries). It does make the design much simpler, though.

The weight is an issue here too. It's something like 200kg of battery in the first stage. The second stage is designed to use its batteries one by one, and them drop them as they're expended.

One bit I remember from reading about rocket systems design is first stage performance is less critical than second and follow on stages. The cost of lower ISP/Mass ratio on the first stage is linear, you just make the it proportionately bigger. Where with higher stages the cost is exponential.

Which makes me wonder if electric pumps might make sense for larger rockets even though their performance is lower. You'd need a larger first stage, question then is how much bigger vs cost savings from a simpler design. I don't have an out of my keister answer for that though.

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#44

Post by bspn » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 4:46 AM UTC

chrismorgan wrote: post #38

I was surprised at how weird it felt to have AU/NZ accents on the mission control (or whatever you call it) channel in the video at the end of that page. I say this as an Australian.

My favorite part of the aborted Friday (EST) launch was when the Kiwi controller was asking the American launch director whether he wanted any pre-determined halts in the launch sequence. It took them 3 goes for the American to understand what he was asking :)

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#45

Post by lostlogin » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 4:54 AM UTC

toomanybeersies wrote: post #8

It's interesting seeing the difference between the publicity that SpaceX gets, and the publicity of other rocket companies like RocketLab get. It shows how effective the PR machine for SpaceX is. RocketLabs launch is pretty significant, considering it's the first orbital launch of a rocket designed and built in a small nation. This has barely hit the news. I guess part of the reason is that it's not in the USA, and t…

Im trying to imagine what would happen if nuclear capable launches were proposed in NZ. It wouldn’t be insurrection, but some something in that ballpark would happen.

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#46

Post by lostlogin » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 4:55 AM UTC

bacon_waffle wrote: post #15

toomanybeersies wrote: post #8

It's interesting seeing the difference between the publicity that SpaceX gets, and the publicity of other rocket companies like RocketLab get. It shows how effective the PR machine for SpaceX is. RocketLabs launch is pretty significant, considering it's the first orbital launch of a rocket designed and built in a small nation. This has barely hit the news. I guess part of the reason is that it's not in the USA, and t…

Beyond not having nuclear weapons to put on a rocket - we're quite disinterested in having anything to do with them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_nuclear-free_zone

Disinterested with a touch of virulent hatred for them.

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#47

Post by lostlogin » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 5:01 AM UTC

boznz wrote: post #22

toomanybeersies wrote: post #8

It's interesting seeing the difference between the publicity that SpaceX gets, and the publicity of other rocket companies like RocketLab get. It shows how effective the PR machine for SpaceX is. RocketLabs launch is pretty significant, considering it's the first orbital launch of a rocket designed and built in a small nation. This has barely hit the news. I guess part of the reason is that it's not in the USA, and t…

I'm sure it will get plenty of coverage here tonight. I think the news channels are over the PM getting pregnant and there are no rugby matches on :-)

Careful where you go for that news as talkback radio will be (more) deadly for the next year or two. Overheard at a grey power cuppa yesterday, ‘She was pregnant when negotiating to be Prime Minister did you know? It’s unbelieveable’.

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#48

Post by schiffern » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 5:04 AM UTC

zik wrote: post #37

mikeash wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t generally make the news for doing things others have done before you. Don’t get me wrong, this company is cool and their success is super exciting, but I see no reason for them to get any press coverage outside of specialty media. SpaceX was pretty quiet too when they were first starting out, and when they’re all over the news now it’s generally because they’re doing something new. I doubt nukes have anythi…

RocketLab's doing incredibly innovative things. They're using an entirely new kind of rocket engine power cycle. This is the first new power cycle invented since the Full Flow Staged Combustion Cycle in the 1960s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_pump-fed_engine They're using entirely 3d printed rocket engines and also full carbon composite rocket bodies - another first for a rocket of this scale. Where it come…

Agree with everything you said, except

>SpaceX is doing great but nothing close to this.

This isn't just false, it's unnecessary. It takes nothing away from RocketLab to acknowledge that SpaceX has also done "incredibly innovative things," such as propulsive first stage landings.

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#49

Post by ekianjo » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 5:07 AM UTC

jessriedel wrote: post #40

syedkarim wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their differentiation is the ticket price: $5M, for now. A SpaceX F9 is $60M. The cost per kg may be an order of magnitude greater, but so is the ticket price.

This is only really useful if you want to put a tiny satellite in an unusual orbit. For frequently trafficked orbits, you can just hitch a ride on a larger launch. Could be a successful business niche, but it doesn’t seem likely to revolutionize anything.

> Could be a successful business niche, but it doesn’t seem likely to revolutionize anything.

Since SpaceX is late to fulfill orders, having more options for smaller payloads is probably a pretty good idea even if the market is smaller.

Re: New Zealand startup successfully launches rocket

#50

Post by lostlogin » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 5:11 AM UTC

DrScump wrote: post #31

Is there no adverse environmental impact from dumping battery packs into the atmosphere to burn up?

It caused grumbling. Not sure where it all go to though as I can’t find any conclusion as it seems they calculated an amount of waste that exceeds that launched. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&o...