Rutherford (rocket engine)
{{Short description|Liquid-fueled rocket engine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox rocket engine
| name = Rutherford
| image = Rocket Lab Rutherford rocket engine-NonFree.png
| image_size =
| caption = Sea-level Rutherford engine
| country_of_origin = {{USA}}
{{NZ}}
| date =
| first_date =
| last_date =
| designer = Rocket Lab
| manufacturer = Rocket Lab
| purpose = First- and second-stage
| associated =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| status = Active
| type = liquid
| oxidiser = LOX
| fuel = RP-1
| mixture_ratio =
| cycle = Electric-pump-fed
| pumps = 2
| description =
| combustion_chamber = 1
| nozzle_ratio =
| thrust_at_altitude =
| thrust(Vac) = {{unbulleted list|Original: {{cvt|5500|lbf|kN|order=flip}}|Updated: {{cvt|5800|lbf|kN|order=flip}}}}
| thrust(SL) = {{unbulleted list|Original: {{cvt|5500|lbf|kN|order=flip}}|Updated: {{cvt|5600|lbf|kN|order=flip}}}}
| throttle_range =
| thrust_to_weight = 72.8
| chamber_pressure =
| specific_impulse_vacuum = {{cvt|343|isp}}
| specific_impulse_sea_level = {{cvt|311|isp}}
| total_impulse =
| burn_time =
| restarts =
| gimbal =
| capacity =
| dimensions =
| length =
| diameter = {{cvt|.25|m}}
| dry_weight = {{cvt|35|kg}}
| used_in = Electron, HASTE
{{cite web
|title=Electron
|url=https://rocketlabusa.com/electron/
|publisher=Rocket Lab
|access-date=24 July 2017
|df=dmy
}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-reaches-500-rutherford-engine-test-fires|title=rocket lab reach 500 rutherford engine test fires}}{{cite web |title=Rocket Lab Increases Electron Payload Capacity, Enabling Interplanetary Missions and Reusability |url=https://www.rocketlabusa.com/about-us/updates/rocket-lab-increases-electron-payload-capacity-enabling-interplanetary-missions-and-reusability/|website=Rocket Lab |access-date=6 August 2020 |language=en}}
| notes =
}}
Rutherford is a liquid-propellant rocket engine designed by aerospace company Rocket Lab{{Cite web|url=https://www.rocketlabusa.com/latest/rocket-lab-reveals-first-battery-powered-rocket-for-commercial-launches-to-space/|title=Rocket Lab Reveals First Battery-Powered Rocket for Commercial Launches to Space {{!}} Rocket Lab|website=Rocket Lab|language=en-us|access-date=2017-05-25}} and manufactured in Long Beach, California.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2017/03/21/rocket-lab-becomes-a-space-unicorn-with-a-75-million-funding-round/|title=Rocket Lab Becomes A Space Unicorn With A $75 Million Funding Round|work=Forbes|first1=Alex|last1=Knapp|date=21 May 2017|access-date=25 May 2017}} The engine is used on the company's own rocket, Electron. It uses LOX (liquid oxygen) and RP-1 (refined kerosene) as its propellants and is the first flight-ready engine to use the electric-pump-fed cycle. The rocket uses a similar engine arrangement to the Falcon 9; a two-stage rocket using a cluster of nine identical engines on the first stage, and one vacuum-optimized version with a longer nozzle on the second stage. This arrangement is also known as an octaweb.{{Cite web|title=Meet the Octaweb – SpaceX|url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2014/04/18/meet-the-octaweb/|access-date=2020-09-18|website=blogs.nasa.gov|language=en-US}} The sea-level version produces {{cvt|24.9|kN|lbf}} of thrust and has a specific impulse of {{cvt|311|isp|}}, while the vacuum optimized-version produces {{cvt|25.8|kN|lbf}} of thrust and has a specific impulse of {{cvt|343|isp|}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rocketlabusa.com/rockets/electron/|title=Electron|website=Rocket Lab|language=en-us|access-date=2018-02-01|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507124557/https://www.rocketlabusa.com/rockets/electron/|url-status=dead}}
First test-firing took place in 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/10-things-about-rocket-lab-ck-203485|title=10 things about Rocket Lab|date=27 May 2017|access-date=25 November 2019|archive-date=21 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521172156/https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/10-things-about-rocket-lab-ck-203485|url-status=dead}} The engine was qualified for flight in March 2016 and had its first flight on 25 May 2017.{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39971843 |website= BBC News |title= New Zealand space launch is first from a private site |date= 2017-05-25 |access-date= 2017-05-25}} As of April 2024, the engine has powered 47 Electron flights in total, making the count of flown engines 369, including one engine flown twice.{{cite tweet|number=1694518606401601855|user=RocketLab|title=260 399 Rutherford engines launched to space|date=23 August 2023}}
Description
Rutherford is named after renowned New Zealand-born scientist Ernest Rutherford. It is a small liquid-propellant rocket engine designed to be simple and cheap to produce. It is used as both a first-stage and a second-stage engine, which simplifies logistics and improves economies of scale. To reduce its cost, it uses the electric-pump feed cycle, being the first flight-ready engine of such type. It is fabricated largely by 3D printing, using a method called laser powder bed fusion, and more specifically Direct Metal Laser Solidification (DMLS®). Its combustion chamber, injectors, pumps, and main propellant valves are all 3D-printed.
As with all pump-fed engines, the Rutherford uses a rotodynamic pump to increase the pressure from the tanks to that needed by the combustion chamber. The use of a pump avoids the need for heavy tanks capable of holding high pressures and the high amounts of inert gas needed to keep the tanks pressurized during flight.
The pumps (one for the fuel and one for the oxidizer) in electric-pump feed engines are driven by an electric motor. The Rutherford engine uses dual brushless DC electric motors and a lithium polymer battery. It is claimed that this improves efficiency from the 50% of a typical gas-generator cycle to 95%. However, the battery pack increases the weight of the complete engine and presents an energy conversion issue.
Each engine has two small motors that generate {{cvt|50|hp|order=flip}} while spinning at 40 000 rpm. The first-stage battery, which has to power the pumps of nine engines simultaneously, can provide over {{convert|1|MW|hp|abbr=on}} of electric power.
The engine is regeneratively cooled, meaning that before injection some of the cold RP-1 is passed through cooling channels embedded in the combustion chamber and nozzle structure, transferring heat away from them, before finally being injected into the combustion chamber.
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite journal |last1=Rachov |first1=Pablo |last2=Tacca |first2=Hernán |last3=Lentini |first3=Diego |title=Electric Feed Systems for Liquid-Propellant Rockets |journal=Journal of Propulsion and Power |publisher=AIAA |volume=29 |issue=5 |year=2013 |pages=1171–1180 |url=https://www.aacademica.org/hernan.emilio.tacca/9.pdf |doi=10.2514/1.B34714 |access-date=16 September 2016}}
{{cite web |url=http://usgif.org/system/uploads/4606/original/ROCKET_LAB_INTRO_USGIF.pdf |title=Rocket Lab Introduction |publisher=Rocket Lab|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920143833/http://usgif.org/system/uploads/4606/original/ROCKET_LAB_INTRO_USGIF.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2016 |access-date=20 September 2016}}
{{cite web |url=https://rocketlabusa.com/about-us/propulsion/ |title=Propulsion |publisher=Rocket Lab|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919222251/https://rocketlabusa.com/about-us/propulsion/ |archive-date=19 September 2016 |access-date=19 September 2016}}
{{cite web |url=https://rocketlabusa.com/rutherford-engine-qualified-for-flight/ |title=Rutherford Engine Qualified for Flight |date=March 2016 |publisher=Rocket Lab|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425071209/https://rocketlabusa.com/rutherford-engine-qualified-for-flight/ |archive-date=25 April 2016 |access-date=19 September 2016}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.rocketlabusa.com/about-us/propulsion/rutherford/ |title=Propulsion |publisher=Rocket Lab|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910163826/http://www.rocketlabusa.com/about-us/propulsion/rutherford/ |archive-date=10 September 2015 |access-date=19 September 2016}}
{{cite news| url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11432396| title=Rocket Lab unveils world's first battery rocket engine| last=Bradley |first=Grant| date=15 April 2015|work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=20 September 2016}}
{{cite web| url=http://www.popsci.com/rocket-labs-got-3d-printed-battery-powered-rocket-engine| title=A 3D-Printed, Battery-Powered Rocket Engine| last=Grush| first=Loren| work=Popular Science| date=15 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131023951/http://www.popsci.com/rocket-labs-got-3d-printed-battery-powered-rocket-engine |archive-date=31 January 2016 |access-date=20 September 2016}}
}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160919222251/https://rocketlabusa.com/about-us/propulsion/ Rocket Lab Propulsion Section]
{{Rocket engines}}
{{Rocket Lab}}
Category:Rocket engines using kerosene propellant
Category:Rocket engines using the electric pump-fed cycle