Rocket Lab granted $8M AFRL award

Rocket Lab (RKLB) announced it has been awarded a federal defense contract with a value up to $8m by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to showcase Rocket Lab’s engineering processes and support the development of Rocket Lab’s new reusable rocket engine, Archimedes. This latest contract recognizes the potential of Rocket Lab and Neutron, the Company’s larger reusable rocket, to provide capability for the National Security Space Launch program (NSSL). The AFRL contract will explore ‘digital engineering’ (DE) concepts related to Archimedes, Rocket Lab’s new oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle rocket engine that will power the reusable first stage of Neutron and its second stage capable of delivering up to 13,000 kilograms of payload to low Earth orbit. “AFRL has been focusing on DE research, demonstration and implementation, and this provides an early foray into implementing DE into a Launch Vehicle’s vendor’s development,” says Frank Friedl, AFRL/RQR DE Lead. The contract will facilitate AFRL’s larger effort to develop a digital engineering technology ecosystem that reduces cost, schedule, and risk throughout Space Force programs. The contract includes options to expand Rocket Lab’s implementation of digital engineering processes across the Neutron propulsion system, and further build the digital engineering framework for NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 launch providers.