这家私人火箭公司称将使卫星发射成本降低90%

    利用一枚完全由3D打印部件构成的火箭，火箭实验室公司（Rocket Lab）打算将仅重220磅的小卫星送入绕地轨道，每次发射要价仅为490万美元。而现在绝大多数发射的起价就是5000万美元，具体价位取决于有效载荷的类型和大小。

    不过，对于该公司的Electron火箭，首席执行官彼得•贝克想澄清一点：这款产品并不想主宰航空发射市场，也不是要通过低价和Space X或联合发射联盟争抢利润丰厚的美国宇航局或军方的发射合同。贝克对《财富》杂志表示：“我们并不是要打造一个火箭家族，并不打算载人发射。我们只是希望提高发射频率，同时降低空间基础设施的建造成本。”

    他补充称，空间基础设施既是未来空间活动的关键，也是为地面生活探索更好未来的关键。目前，技术和市场都更倾向于选择小型卫星。比如，卫星互联网公司OneWeb计划推出小型卫星互联网群，谷歌公司及Space X公司近期也提出类似计划。对那些不想等上数月，只为了在一枚更大火箭上分享舱位的客户来说，这家初创企业的低价格和快速周转——它可以在数天内生产出关键零部件——是个颇有吸引力的选择。

    这种火箭的Rutherford引擎之所以节省成本，奥妙在于它将昂贵的涡轮泵发动机换成了结构简单得多、由锂聚合物驱动的电动机，与3D打印的零部件相结合后，它就能将火箭的成本、复杂程度和重量显著降低。

    在传统的液体燃料火箭引擎中，涡轮机械将精确配比的液体燃料和液氧泵入引擎的燃烧室后，两者混合燃烧来产生推力。这些涡轮泵由极其复杂的部件构成，这些部件又需要自己的引擎高效运行才能让引擎的其他部分有效运转。这类引擎还因故障频发而饱受诟病。

    电池能效和添加物制造技术的突破，使这种火箭及其引擎应运而生，但贝克表示，火箭实验室的动机并不是打造最聪明、技术上最精密的火箭。他说：“电动涡轮泵和3D打印确实很酷，但我们并不是因为它们很酷才采用的。之所以采用它们，是因为只有这样，我们才能以想要的成本实现我们想要的发射频率。”

    发射频率是火箭实验室商业计划中很重要的一块。小客户通常不得不等上数月，才能把自己的有效载荷装上较大的商业卫星，而火箭实验室就能把这种载荷完全放在一枚火箭上，几周内即可发射，将来它或许就能按照市场所需频繁发射。一旦这类卫星的发射成本和搭载在较大火箭上发射的成本相当，它们就能升入轨道并开始产生价值。

    鉴于小型卫星产业正以两位数的年增长率快速发展（2014年约有150颗小型卫星升空，2015年及以后预计会有更多），一枚价值500万美元的火箭可以获得一个更健康的细分市场。今年火箭实验室将继续测试其电动火箭，首次商业发射预计将在2016年进行。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远

    审校：任文科

    Using a rocket consisting of 3D-printed parts, Rocket Lab intends to put small satellites weighing as much as 220 pounds into orbit above the Earth, all for a price of $4.9 million per launch. Depending on the type and size of a payload, most launches these days start at $50 million.

    But, CEO Peter Beck wants to make one thing clear about its Electron rocket: This isn’t about owning the space launch market or undercutting SpaceX or ULA for their lucrative NASA or military launch contracts. “We’re not looking to build a family of vehicles, we’re not looking to fly people,” Beck tells Fortune. “This is about increasing launch frequency and reducing the cost of building space infrastructure.”

    Space infrastructure is key to both future operations in space and to creating a better future on the ground, he adds. Both technology and the market are gravitating towards small satellites (think OneWeb’s proposed small satellite Internet constellation, or a similar initiative recently proposed by Google and SpaceX). The startup’s low price and fast turnaround—it can manufacture critical parts within days—for launches could make it an attractive option for customers that don’t want to wait months for a shared ride on a larger rocket.

    The rocket’s Rutherford engine achieves its cost efficiencies by replacing pricey turbopump machinery with much simpler electric motors powered by lithium polymer batteries, which coupled with its 3D printed components, reduces costs, complexity and weight.

    In a conventional liquid-fueled rocket engine, turbomachinery pumps the precise mix of liquid fuel and liquid oxygen into the engine’s combustion chamber, where it is burned to provide thrust. Those turbopumps are complex pieces of hardware that require their own engine to operate at the high performance necessary to make the rest of the engine function properly. They’re also to blame for a fair amount of rocket engine failures.

    Breakthroughs in both battery efficiency and additive manufacturing have made the rocket and its engine possible, but the driving force behind Rocket Lab isn’t building the smartest, most technologically sophisticated rocket, says Beck. “The electric turbopump and 3D printing are cool, but we’re not doing them because they’re cool,” he says. “We’re doing them because it’s the only way to get the launch frequency that we want at the cost that we want.”

    Frequency is a big part of Rocket Lab’s business plan. Where small satellite customers often have to wait months to piggyback their payloads on the backs of larger commercial satellite launches, Rocket Lab could integrate a payload into a rocket and launch within weeks, which raises the prospect that it could launch as frequently as the market demands. Satellites could go to orbit and begin producing value as soon as they’re ready at a launch cost comparable to a ride-share on a larger rocket.

    Given that the small satellite industry is growing by double-digit percentages year-over-year (there were roughly 150 small satellite launches in 2014 with more predicted in 2015 and beyond), a $5 million rocket could find a healthy market segment to serve. Rocket Lab will test Electron throughout the rest of this year, with its first commercial launch slated for 2016.