Vector-H (Vector Heavy) was a planned

two-stage A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is ...

or three-stage orbital

expendable ''Expendable'' is a science fiction novel by the Canadian author James Alan Gardner, published in 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints.Avon Books; HarperCollins Canada; SFBC/AvoNova. Paperback edition 1997, Eos Books. It i ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

in development by the American aerospace company Vector Launch to cover the commercial

small satellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites c ...

launch segment (

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

s). It was planned to be an expanded version of the Vector-R rocket, more than doubling the payload capacity. After Vector Launch ceased operations in December 2019, the future development of the rocket is unofficially canceled.

Design

Vector-H would have used two stages, both 1.2 m in diameter, filled with Propylene/LOX propellant. The main body of the rocket was planned to be constructed using a lightweight carbon composite material. The launch vehicle's first stage would have been powered by six LP-1

LOX Lox is a fillet of brined salmon, which may be smoked. Lox is frequently served on a bagel with cream cheese, and often garnished with tomato, onion, cucumber, and capers. Etymology The American English word ''lox'' is a borrowing of Yiddi ...

propylene Propylene, also known as propene, is an unsaturated organic compound with the chemical formula . It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. It is a colorless gas with a faint petroleum-like o ...

engines, delivering 81,000

newtons The newton (symbol: N) is the unit of force in the International System of Units (SI). Expressed in terms of SI base units, it is 1 kg⋅m/s2, the force that accelerates a mass of one kilogram at one metre per second squared. The unit i ...

of force. The second stage would have been powered by one LP-3

engine, delivering 4,400

of force. The engines used a 3D-printed engine injector, designed with help from NASA's Science, Technology and Mission Directorate (STMD) Flight Opportunities program. This allows the injector to be produced as a single piece of hardware, instead of as individual components. The vehicle was also planned to include an optional third stage powered by a

solid rocket motor A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder. The inception of gunpowder rockets in warfare can be cre ...

. This would have allowed the upper stage to boost micro satellites into a higher orbit.

Vector-HE1

The Vector-HE1 planned variant was to have the same body as the standard Vector-H but include an electric powered third stage.

Intended usage

Vector-H was designed to launch a payload to a

Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

, suitable for

s and other small payloads. The cost would have been less than , a price point that the company hoped will allow it to attract one hundred launches per year. Customers could have choose to encapsulate their spacecraft in payload fairings provided by the company, which could be easily attached to the rocket shortly before launch, in several different configurations, such as fitting CubeSats dispensers or multiple satellites in a single fairing. Vector would have used on-site payload integration for the early launches. However it expected to be able to integrate payloads at their Arizona and California Payload Facilities and ship them to their launch sites.

Launch sites

Kluft-photo-aerial-Mojave-Spaceport-Sept-2009-Img 0227

Vector Space planned to use the LC-46 launch site in Florida,

Spaceport Camden Spaceport Camden was a proposed commercial spaceport in Camden County, Georgia, near the city of Woodbine. The site tested the largest solid rocket motor ever fired as part of the Apollo Program and Camden County, Georgia was originally conside ...

, and Pacific Spaceport Complex. Additionally Vector Space investigated adding more minimal infrastructure launch pads either located on land in the US, or to launch the rocket from barges on the ocean.

References

{{Orbital launch systems Microsatellite launch vehicles

Design

Vector-HE1

Intended usage

Launch sites

See also

References