The stock was at US$80.10 on August 10 when the latest delay was first flagged as a possibility.<\/p>\n
Rocket Lab will charge around US$55 million per Neutron flight, compared to US$8.5m for its Electron. <\/p>\n
The company has long said its launch operations won\u2019t break into the black until Neutron is in service.<\/p>\n
An artist render of Rocket Lab’s Electron, in service today, next to the Neutron – now due for its first launch next year.<\/p>\n
When Neutron was first announced in 2021, Rocket Lab was shooting for a maiden launch before the end of 2024. The target was subsequently pushed into 2025, then the end of this year before the latest delay.<\/p>\n
At rival SpaceX, Elon Musk\u2019s motto might be \u201cMove fast and break things\u201d but Beck implied he didn\u2019t want to see the equivalent of Starship blowing up on the launchpad.<\/p>\n
\u201cPossible success isn\u2019t our standard,\u201d Beck said in a video explainer released earlier today [see the clip at the top of this story].<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t rush to the launch pad with unnecessary risk. <\/p>\n
\u201cDevelopment programmes like Neutron have their challenges. Recently, we hit one of those challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re building the largest pressurised structure ever made out of carbon composite,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
SpaceX\u2019s Falcon9 has an aluminium body, while its larger Starship has a stainless steel shell.<\/p>\n
Air pockets discovered<\/p>\n
In January, Neutron\u2019s first-stage fuel tank ruptured during a test.<\/p>\n
The failure was the result of a \u201cthird-party manual hand-lay process\u201d, Beck said today. <\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing this, we pivoted to our long-term plan production process using the automated fibre placement (AFP) machine, which lays down the carbon with speed and accuracy,\u201d Beck said. <\/p>\n
The introduction of the AFP machine \u2013 one of the world\u2019s largest \u2013 was an opportunity to introduce design enhancements to several components, including fuel domes.<\/p>\n
Beck stands inside Neutron’s nose cone<\/p>\n
Carbon components were then \u201ccured\u201d at high temperatures. <\/p>\n
\u201cCuring involves a heat-activated chemical reaction that transforms the epoxy into a solid, cross-linked polymer that binds the carbon fibres together,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
Because of the unprecedented scale, Rocket Lab had to develop new techniques.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis includes custom cure cycles for the very large pieces like the forward and aft domes for the propellant tanks on stage one,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this process is not perfect, defects can occur, and one such defect is the formation of voids or air pockets that can form between the layers of the carbon fibre, which in turn compromises strength, durability and reliability of the part.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Neutron nose cone, machined in Warkworth at a plant formerly owned by SailGP, passes kayaker Rob Henson in May 2026. Photo \/ Rob Henson, Facebook<\/p>\n
Beck was confident the cause of the issue had been identified. But before he could offer \u201cmore granularity\u201d on a new launch date, a new forward dome had to be built on the AFP machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s underway,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
The forward dome would then have to be subjected to ultrasonic analysis and testing to confirm no voids or further issues. The dome would then have to be integrated into the first stage before hydrostatic and cryogenic tests. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll going well, we expect the first two steps to be completed before Q1, with the third wrapped up in that quarter. From there, we expect to be in good shape to share a new target launch date.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe voids don\u2019t necessarily mean the dome would fail on flight but our practice is to proceed only when we believe the system has the appropriate margins.<\/p>\n
Short-term pain for long-term gain<\/p>\n
\u201cNeutron is on an ambitious timeline, but we\u2019re focused on more than just reaching the launchpad for flight one. We\u2019re building the programme\u2019s long-term infrastructure,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
Taking more time and care before the inaugural launch would ultimately mean better manufacturing infrastructure and more frequent Neutron launches during the new rocket\u2019s early years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not rushing to the pad with a minimum viable product.\u201d<\/p>\n
A small army of local retail investors will hope the cautious approach ultimately pays off. In July, Sharesies said Rocket Lab had become its most widely held individual stock, displacing Air New Zealand. Around 70,000 of its members held the Kiwi-American company\u2019s shares. <\/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. He has recently written about the tilt toward defence contracts at the 2026 New Zealand Aerospace Summit<\/a>, Elon Musk\u2019s terrestrial mobile network play<\/a> and Rocket Lab\u2019s largest-ever civilian contract for its Electron rocket<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The stock was at US$80.10 on August 10 when the latest delay was first flagged as a possibility.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[18516,74,6030,89314,29804,62564,10669,16492,11774,78056,2678,76912,7189,16774,3331,5969,89313,111,43,139,69,13650,147,180,392,781,14931,1961,2044,309358,698],"class_list":["post-631099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-18516","tag-after","tag-again","tag-crewcapable","tag-date","tag-defect","tag-delayed","tag-delays","tag-dive","tag-dived","tag-fuel","tag-inaugural","tag-lab","tag-larger","tag-launch","tag-much","tag-neutron","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rocket","tag-science","tag-shares","tag-space","tag-stock","tag-tank","tag-this","tag-time","tag-unnamed","tag-until"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631099","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=631099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}