{"id":172843,"date":"2025-12-08T00:47:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/172843\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T00:47:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:47:06","slug":"rocket-lab-barges-giant-neutron-hungry-hippo-nose-cone-out-of-warkworth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/172843\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab barges giant Neutron \u2018hungry hippo\u2019 nose cone out of Warkworth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The nose cone will top the 43m tall, 7m diameter Neutron<\/a> rocket, due to be placed on a purpose-built Rocket Lab launch pad in Virginia in the New Year.<\/p>\n

Founder Sir Peter Beck calls the fairing the \u201chungry hippo\u201d because of its ability to open its \u201cjaws\u201d like the toy and release cargo (see video above).<\/p>\n

\"RocketRocket Lab founder Sir Peter Beck inside a partially assembled Neutron fairing. Photo \/ Rocket Lab<\/p>\n

Facebook user \u201cJack Flash\u201d posted under one of the photos: \u201cMahurangi River, Kawau Island, Bream Bay, Northport, Mars. What a mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, the test launch in the New Year will be to low Earth orbit, but one day a Neutron could travel to the Red Planet.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab says the Neutron, which will go head-to-head with SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9, is \u201cdesigned for mega-constellation deployment, deep space missions and human spaceflight\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other comments included \u201ccool\u201d, \u201camazing\u201d, \u201cIs this Shane Jones\u2019 new toy?\u201d and \u201cWhy not launch it there [to the US]?\u201d (Facebook humour aside, Beck said there isn\u2019t enough liquid oxygen in all of New Zealand to fill the Neutron\u2019s tanks and that US Government and defence clients only want launches close to home).<\/p>\n

\"LocalsLocals wowed as Rocket Lab barged the giant “hungry hippo” nose cone out of Warkworth. Photo \/ Whangateau Traditional Boating Club New Zealand<\/p>\n

The Neutron will be able to carry a 13-tonne payload to low-Earth orbit, and eight tonnes if going further afield. <\/p>\n

\"AA tug boat towed the barge with its space cargo. Photo \/ Whangateau Traditional Boating Club New Zealand<\/p>\n

It will dwarf Rocket Lab\u2019s workhorse today, the 18m-tall, 1.2m-diameter Electron (which will continue to launch from Mahia and Virginia after the Neutron goes into service). And unlike the Electron, the Neutron will have self-landing capability.<\/p>\n

How Rocket Lab came to be in Warkworth<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab took over SailGP Technologies\u2019 6500sq m development and manufacturing complex in Warkworth \u2013 and took on its 50 staff \u2013 in late 2023, as Sir Russell Coutts decamped to Europe.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2001 as Core Builders Composites (CBC), the Warkworth facility once made America\u2019s Cup boats for Ellison\u2019s Oracle Team USA.<\/p>\n

In more recent years, it switched focus to building and maintaining the cutting-edge F50 catamarans used in SailGP\u2019s global racing league.<\/p>\n

\"AboutAbout 50 SailGP Technologies New Zealand staff joined Rocket Lab as Sir Peter Beck’s firm took over its Warkworth manufacturing facility after Sir Russell Coutts decamped his operation to Europe in 2023. Photo \/ Rocket Lab<\/p>\n

Beck\u2019s company also became a customer, which was only natural because his firm makes rockets out of the same materials: lightweight carbon-fibre composites.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab said at the time of the takeover that it would retain the Warkworth plant\u2019s high-tech manufacturing gear, including autoclave vacuum ovens and computer numerical control (CNC) machinery \u2013 or industrial-scale 3D printers that can handle metal and composites. The kit would be used, in part, to accelerate research and development work on the Neutron.<\/p>\n

Built everywhere<\/p>\n

The Neutron was originally slated to launch at the end of 2024, then the end of this year, before recently being pushed into 2026. The methodical Beck made no apologies for the delays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen what happens when others rush to the launchpad with an unproven product and we just won\u2019t do that\u201a” Beck said in November, in a possible reference to the constant explosions suffered by SpaceX\u2019s Starship as the firm follows Elon Musk\u2019s \u201cmove-fast-and-break-things\u201d approach.<\/p>\n

Neutron research and development, manufacturing and testing is taking place at multiple locations, including Auckland, Warkworth, Virginia, California and Mississippi \u2013 where hot-fire tests of the new rocket\u2019s \u201cArchimedes\u201d engines have taken place inside a Nasa facility.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn artist’s rendering of Rocket Lab’s Neutron \u2013 designed to release cargo such as a satellite from its “hungry hippo” nose fairing before self-landing on a barge at sea. Image \/ Rocket Lab<\/p>\n

The new rocket is largely funded by Rocket Lab itself. The firm recently raised US$700 million ($1.2 billion) by issuing new shares.<\/p>\n

But the US Air Force\u2019s Space Force Space Systems Command chipped in with a US$24.35m grant towards the development of the upper stage, while the state of Virginia contributed US$45m to the Neutron manufacturing plant and launch pad.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn artist’s rendering of Rocket Lab’s Electron, in service today, next to the Neutron, due for its first launch next year. The Kiwi-American firm charges about US$7.5m for an Electron launch. Hitching a ride on Neutron will cost about US$55m.<\/p>\n

On a November 10 Rocket Lab earnings call, Rocket Lab said total capital expenditure on Neutron would reach US$360m by year\u2019s end \u2013 still chump change in traditional aerospace terms but an increase on the original estimate of US$250m to US$300m.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab\u2019s Nasdaq-listed shares closed at US$49.06 on Friday for a market cap of US$26.2 billion.<\/p>\n

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald\u2019s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The nose cone will top the 43m tall, 7m diameter Neutron rocket, due to be placed on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111474,1558,42313,7500,15356,25337,71,13313,305,111475,64573,111477,7189,27160,20829,89313,111,43,139,96740,69,1118,3111,9615,4885,13194,13650,26671,111476,5977],"class_list":{"0":"post-172843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-barges","9":"tag-been","10":"tag-cone","11":"tag-december","12":"tag-emerged","13":"tag-firms","14":"tag-from","15":"tag-giant","16":"tag-have","17":"tag-hippo","18":"tag-hungry","19":"tag-kiwiamerican","20":"tag-lab","21":"tag-labs","22":"tag-locals","23":"tag-neutron","24":"tag-new-zealand","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-newzealand","27":"tag-nose","28":"tag-nz","29":"tag-of","30":"tag-out","31":"tag-piece","32":"tag-plant","33":"tag-progress","34":"tag-rocket","35":"tag-tracking","36":"tag-warkworth","37":"tag-which"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}