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[ 03 ]Technology

Built
in-house

Rocket Lab makes much of what flies on its rockets and satellites itself. Here is the stack, from the engines up.

Inside: Li-Po cells, Motor windings, Pump impellers, Injector, Cooling channels, Combustion chamber.

Hover to see inside

  1. 1Battery pack
  2. 2Electric motors
  3. 3Propellant pumps
  4. 4Injector
  5. 5Combustion chamber
  6. 6Nozzle

Electric turbopump alternative

Rutherford Engine

Electron's engine replaces the classic gas-driven turbopump with battery-powered electric motors. Fewer moving parts, precise control, and every primary component 3D-printed.

Cycle
Electric pump-fed
Thrust
24 kN
sea level
Isp (vac)
343 s
Propellants
LOX / RP-1
Powers Electron · 9 on the first stage · 1 vacuum version on the second stage

Use cases

  • Electron first stage (×9)
  • Electron second stage (vacuum ×1)
  • HASTE suborbital flights

Inside: Ox-rich preburner, Turbine, Pump impellers, Hot gas to chamber, Injector, Cooling channels, Combustion chamber.

Hover to see inside

  1. 1Main valves
  2. 2Oxygen-rich preburner
  3. 3Turbopump
  4. 4Main combustion chamber
  5. 5Gimbal
  6. 6Nozzle

Reusable methalox power

Archimedes Engine

A liquid-oxygen and methane engine using oxygen-rich staged combustion, deliberately run below its limits so it can fly many times. Nine power Neutron's first stage and one vacuum version its upper stage.

Cycle
Ox-rich staged
Thrust
733 kNPLANNED
sea level
Throttle
to 65%PLANNED
Hot fires
400+
by Aug 2026
Powers Neutron · 9 on the first stage · 1 vacuum version on the upper stage

Use cases

  • Neutron first stage (×9)
  • Neutron upper stage (vacuum ×1)
  • Propulsive landing & reuse

Inside: Propellant tanks, Reaction wheels, Avionics, Battery, Propellant lines.

Hover to see inside

From kick stage to interplanetary

Photon & Spacecraft

Photon grew out of Electron's Kick Stage: add solar power, communications and attitude control, and the upper stage becomes a satellite. The family now spans Explorer for deep space, Pioneer for re-entry capsules and Lightning for higher-power missions.

First flight
Aug 2020
Lunar
CAPSTONE
NASA · 2022
Mars
ESCAPADE
NASA · launched Nov 2025
Platforms
Explorer · Pioneer · Lightning

Use cases

  • Lunar & planetary missions
  • In-space manufacturing capsules (Varda)
  • Hosted payloads & technology demos

Constellations, built in-house

Space Systems

Rocket Lab designs and builds complete constellation satellites. It holds Space Development Agency contracts for 18 Tranche 2 Transport Layer satellites and 18 Tranche 3 Tracking Layer satellites, and is developing the Flatellite, a satellite designed for mass production.

SDA T2 Transport
18 satellites
$515M contract · 2024
SDA T3 Tracking
18 satellites
$816M contract · Dec 2025
Platform
Flatellite
constellation-class
Iridium
AcquisitionPLANNED
announced Jun 2026 · pending

Use cases

  • Defence data-transport & missile-tracking layers
  • Commercial communications constellations
  • Space domain awareness
REACTION WHEELSTAR TRACKERSOLAR CELLS

Inside other people's spacecraft too

Satellite Components

Through acquisitions such as Sinclair Interplanetary, Planetary Systems Corp, SolAero, Geost and Mynaric, Rocket Lab supplies the parts that satellites across the industry depend on.

Attitude
Reaction wheels · star trackers
Power
Solar cells & panels
Separation
Lightband systems
Comms
Radios · laser terminals

Use cases

  • Third-party satellites & constellations
  • NASA and defence programmes
  • Rocket Lab's own spacecraft
FSW · SIM01 guidance.update(state, target)02 if stage.meco()03 sequence.next(SEPARATION)04 nav.fuse(imu, gnss)05 telemetry.push(frame)06 attitude.hold(sun_pointing)ILLUSTRATIVE PLOT

The code that flies

Flight Software

Software ties everything together: guidance for the rockets, flight software for spacecraft, and the simulation and ground tools used to test missions before they fly. Rocket Lab expanded this capability with the 2021 acquisition of Advanced Solutions Inc.

Scope
Launch · spacecraft · ground
Acquired
ASI
Advanced Solutions Inc · 2021
Testing
Hardware-in-the-loopTBC
Ops
Mission operationsTBC

Use cases

  • Guidance, navigation & control
  • Spacecraft flight software
  • Mission simulation & ground systems

How the stack was built

Acquisitions

  1. 2020

    Sinclair Interplanetary

    Reaction wheels, star trackers

  2. 2021

    Advanced Solutions Inc

    Flight software, GNC

  3. 2021

    Planetary Systems Corp

    Separation systems

  4. 2022

    SolAero

    Space solar power

  5. 2025

    Geost

    Electro-optical payloads

  6. 2026

    Mynaric

    Laser communications

  7. 2026

    Motiv Space Systems

    Space robotics

  8. 2027?

    Iridium

    Announced Jun 2026 · pending