Rocket Lab launches 40th rocket, first with reused engine from Māhia

The rocket launch on Thursday from the Māhia Peninsula. Photo / Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab has reached a milestone by launching its 40th rocket and its first with a completely reused engine.

The We Love the Nightlife mission launched from the company’s Māhia Peninsula pad in northern Hawke’s Bay at 11.45am on Thursday.

The main purpose of the mission was to deploy a satellite into orbit for a US client.

It was originally scheduled for a night launch last month but was aborted at the last second, on that occasion, due to “low igniter pressure”.

Thursday’s rocket launch was the company’s 37th from Māhia and 40th overall using its 18-metre-tall Electron rockets, as three missions have been completed in the US.

Making the milestone even more special, Rocket Lab flew its Electron rocket with a pre-flown engine for the very first time.

The rocket launch on the picturesque Māhia Peninsula. Photo / Rocket Lab

That engine was used in the There and Back Again mission in May 2022 and again on Thursday.

“This mission is a big step toward reusable Electron rockets,” Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck, who is based in Auckland, said.

He also posted on social media after the launch that it was a “perfect performance from the reused engine”.

Beck told Hawke’s Bay Today last month that reusing an entire Rutherford engine (the name of the engine used in its Electron rockets) had been a big focus and “the milestone after that will be [flying] a complete booster all in one piece again”.

“It is one of the last long poles in the tent - to validate that we can in fact fly, recover and fly again.”

The company recovers the booster (a large part of the rocket) from the ocean following its launches, a couple of hundred kilometres off the coast of New Zealand.

Other companies across the world, such as SpaceX, are also working on reusable rockets.

Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck in a control room. Photo / Dean Purcell

Rocket Lab launches have a big following in Hawke’s Bay with the most passionate local followers known as “rocket chasers”. However, the cloud cover and daytime launch on Thursday made it difficult to view the latest launch.

Rocket Lab has about 1600 employees around the world including about 650 in New Zealand.

The company is also working on an even bigger rocket than the Electron, which it hopes to have on a launch pad in the US by the end of next year.

That rocket will be called Neutron and be over 40m tall.

“To put it into context, Electron lifts about 300 kilograms to orbit; Neutron will lift 13,000kg to orbit,” Beck said, earlier this year.

“It is a much more significant launch vehicle and capable of human spaceflight, and that launch vehicle will be exclusively launched from the United States.”

Rocket Lab’s latest mission name, We Love the Nightlife, refers to the satellite’s ability to make observations day and night.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.