Vector R completes first test launch en route to easier smallsat access to space. Vector Space Systems, a private spaceflight company based out of Tuscon, successfully completed their first test launch May 3. An engineering version of the rocket lifted off from a makeshift launch pad in the Mojave desert shortly after 3pm EDT. The vehicle featured smaller propellant tanks and a single 5,000 lbf engine keeping with the company’s desire to incrementally test the vehicle. In order to forgo a lengthy process for an FAA-issued commercial launch licence, the company only utilised a single, 5,000lbf engine on the first stage, instead focussing testing on the vehicle’s avionics and computer systems, Vector CEO Jim Cantrell expects around five flights of the vehicle before an orbital test flight completes the testing phase. The rocket is expected to place six satellites and up to 132 pounds in Low Earth Orbit. Vector-R aims to provide a launch vehicle for the microsatellites and cubesats, book-sized payloads often flown piggyback atop larger rockets. Since these usually fly as secondary payloads to larger satellites, their access to space is out of the control of their parent companies. By having a dedicated launch service such as Vector R and Rocket Lab’s Electron, cubesats would launch at a more rapid pace and much cheaper than the current paradigm.
The rocket is expected to place six satellites and up to 132 pounds in Low Earth Orbit. Vector-R is a two-stage, liquid fuelled rocket with three first stage engines and a single upper stage engine. Up to six satellites can fit into the rocket’s nosecone. Of the three major companies currently breaking into the smallsat market - Vector, Rocket Lab, and Virgin Orbit - Vector is the first to actually test flight hardware. The company hopes to offer launch services for as little as 1.5 million dollars with a weekly launch cadence. Currently, smallsat launches piggybacking on larger vehicles must wait months in between launches.
P/C: Vector Space Systems
