Northwest Aerospace News August | September Issue No. 10 | Page 27

I
n 2015, Moon received a tip that
they could apply for an opportunity
to participate in a new kind of satel-
lite launch program; their school
could use it as a student educational
program. They applied — along
with the support of community
members like Ross Welburn, a
retired engineer and patent hold-
er, and Burt Rutan, aeronautical
engineer — and were accepted into
the program along with nine other
groups nationwide.
The groups vary from universities
like West Virginia University, New
Mexico Tech, and the University of
Florida; to military installations like
the U.S. Naval Academy, Langley
Research Center; and commercial
partnerships with NASA such as
the NASA Independent Verification
and Validation Program. The North
Idaho STEM Charter Academy was
the only high school issued into
this round and had an initial launch
scheduled for 2017. Delays oc-
curred and they completed launch
in December 2018 on a new style
of research-based rocket by Rocket
Labs, from a point in the South
Pacific.
Photo Credit: Rocket Lab
The rocket is much smaller than
those launching missions to the
International Space Station. It is
called “Electron” and is Rocket
Labs’ first 3D printed engine that
operates with oxygen and kero-
sene. It is 56 feet tall (17 meters),
as opposed to the Delta Heavy
rocket standing at 236 feet tall (72
meters), and carries a payload of
330-495 pounds (150-225 kg).
The rocket is supported by the
private sector and accepts research
payloads from educational and
commercial organizations.
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