The re-flight of a Rutherford engine demonstrates rocket reuse is here to stay
Enlarge / Rocket Lab launches an Electron booster with a previously flown engine on Thursday. (credit: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab launched its 40th Electron mission this week and achieved an important milestone in its quest to reuse orbital rockets. As part of the mission, the launch company reused a previously flown Rutherford engine on its first stage for the first time.
In terms of orbital rockets, only NASA's space shuttle and SpaceX's Falcon 9 vehicles have demonstrated the capability of re-flying an engine. With Rutherford, Rocket Lab has now also flown a rocket engine that landed in the ocean for the first time.
Shortly after the Electron mission, which launched a satellite for Capella Space on Thursday morning from New Zealand, Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck confirmed that the Rutherford engine performed well in its second flight. "The data is in, perfect performance from the reused engine and the stage," Beck said on X, the social networking site formerly known as Twitter.