Rocket Lab, the global leader in dedicated small satellite launches, is a private aerospace company founded in 2006 by New Zealand engineer Peter Beck. Rocket Lab operates from New Zealand and has its headquarters in California. Rocket Lab's orbital launch vehicle, the electron rocket, is a two-stage orbital launch vehicle that carries satellites to orbit for them. Electron is powered by Rutherford engines, the world's first electric pump-fed orbital class rocket engine. This video explores the technical aspects of the Rutherford engine and its test and flight histories. We will cover more about the Rocket Lab in our upcoming videos. So, don't forget to subscribe to this channel. With no further delay, let's move on to our topic. Rutherford is a liquid propellant rocket engine, named after the renowned New Zealand-born scientist Ernest Rutherford. The engine is fueled by RP-1, a very refined caracene fuel used in rockets. Wayne just 35 kilograms, Rutherford is capable of delivering 25 kilonewtons of thrust at sea level. It has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 72.8, and a sea level-specific impulse of about 311 seconds. The electron rocket uses a cluster of nine identical Rutherford engines on the first stage, and one vacuum optimized variant with a more extended nozzle on the second stage. The vacuum optimized version of the engine produces a thrust of 26 kilonewtons, with a specific impulse of 343 seconds. Rutherford is the world's first electric pump-fed rocket engine, launched into space. Most rocket engines rely on turbo pumps to supply fuel and oxidizer to the main combustion chamber. For example, the SpaceX Raptor engine, which operates under a full-flow staged combustion cycle, consists of two turbo pumps to pressurize and inject the fuel and oxidizer into the combustion chamber. Both turbo pumps are powered by separate pre-burners, which combusts a portion of fuel and oxidizer to produce the energy required to drive the turbo pumps. We have discussed about the Raptor engine in our previous videos. Check out those videos to know more, link in the description. An electric pump-fed engine. Instead of liquid propellant, the pumps are powered by electric motors with lithium polymer batteries. An inverter converts the batteries DC electricity to the AC needed by the motor. The motor drives the oxygen and fuel turbo pumps, which pressurize the propellant before pushing it into the combustion chamber. Liquid oxygen is delivered directly into the combustion chamber. While fuel is circulated around the engine bell to remove the heat of combustion, before being fed into the combustion chamber. The Rutherford engine uses dual brushless DC electric motors and lithium polymer battery. The motors generate a power of 37 kW, while spinning at 42,000 RPM. The first stage battery, which powers the pumps of 9 engines simultaneously, can provide over 1 MW of electric power. The electric turbo pump cycle is a totally different way to pump a punt's and rocket engine. So we carry about 1 MW where the battery is on board. And we have these little electric turbo pumps, about the size of a Coke can. Not much bigger than a Coke can. They spin at 42,000 RPM, and each one of those Coke can-sized turbo pumps produces about the same amount of horsepower as your average family car. And we have 20 of them on the rocket. Now, let's compare the Rutherford engine with traditional rocket engines. Rutherford cuts down on much of the complex turbo machinery and plumbing, typically required for gas generator cycle engines, and is simpler to build than a conventional engine. The electric pump fed system eliminates the need for extra tubes and valves, which adds weight to the engine, and are frequently the source of engine failure. In a traditional engine, the pre-burner combustion must be timed with engine operation. But the Rutherford engine follows a radically different approach, where using brushless DC motors and lithium battery cells completely eliminate this thermodynamic problem. But even with all these advantages, why are the electric pump fed engines not popular in the rocket industry? The problem is that the energy density of the batteries was too low in the past. And according to Peter Beck, there have been enormous advancements in battery technology in recent years that has allowed him to go for electric turbo pumps. It is claimed that electric motors improve efficiency from 50% of the standard gas generator cycle to 95%. However, the battery pack raises the weight of the complete engine, and poses an energy conversion challenge. The thrust chamber, injector, turbo pumps, and main propellant valves in the engine are all made with electron beam melting technique. Electron beam melting is an advanced form of 3D printing, where metal powder is completely fused, layer by layer, with an electron beam in a high vacuum. In the electron beam melting process, the metal powder is first loaded into the machine. The build chamber is then closed, and a vacuum is created to ensure a clean and controlled environment. The powder layering system then evenly distributes a thin layer of powder on the build area. A powerful electron beam heats the powder bed to an optimal temperature of around 1000 degrees Celsius. As each layer is completed, the build is lowered, and a fresh layer of build powder is raked over it. The process repeats one layer at a time, until the final product is ready. Rocket Lab uses ink and olintotanium powder as the raw material for 3D printing the engine's primary components. According to Peter Beck, Rocket Lab can print an engine within 24 hours, and they plan to launch a rocket every 72 hours. 3D print these rocket engines, so each one of these engines is 3D printed out of ink and our super alloy, and right now we can print around about 1 engine every 24 hours. Rutherford has the most 3D printed components of any rocket engine in the world. Rutherford engines are manufactured at Rocket Lab's headquarters in California. They are then shipped to Rocket Lab's New Zealand facilities for testing, before integrating with the electron launch vehicle. Rocket Lab began development on the Rutherford engine in 2013. Within the same year, Rutherford was test-fired for the first time, marking the beginning of a new generation in rocket propulsion. According to Rocket Lab, the test was successful, and the engine demonstrated stable performance. After two years of tests, on 14th April 2015, at the 31st space symposium held in Colorado, Peter Beck unveiled the Rutherford engine. He stated that the company had completed the development of the Rutherford engine. After completing more than 200 engine hotfires, as part of the qualification program, on 21st March 2016, Rocket Lab announced that its Rutherford engine had been qualified for a flight test. Peter Beck then stated that the company is looking to manufacture the engine at quantity for both tests and commercial flights. The first flight of the engine happened on 25th May 2017. The electron rocket, carrying no payloads, lifted off from Rocket Lab's launch complex one, situated at Mayhean, New Zealand. The rocket successfully performed its first stage in faring separations. After reaching an altitude of around 224 km, the rocket's telemetry signal was lost. And the range safety officer destroyed the rocket. Later on 21st January 2018, the Rutherford engine successfully carried the electron rocket to orbit, placing four quapsats into a low-earth orbit. On 31st January 2018, Rocket Lab announced that the engine had completed its 500th test fire in a test stand. The 500th Rutherford test fire burned for 100 seconds. The milestone firing brought the Rutherford engine series to 19,000 seconds of cumulative firing time, since the first hot fire test in December 2013. On 8th July 2019, Rocket Lab announced that it had produced 100 flight ready engines at its Huntington Beach headquarters, and conducted more than 850 successful engine test fires. Rocket Lab also expanded its 3D printing facilities in Huntington Beach, to produce 200 Rutherford engines in 12 months. As of September 2020, electron has flown 14 times, making the count of total flown Rutherford engines, 140. So, what do you think about this non-conventional rocket engine? Will it be able to launch heavy satellites and astronauts in the future? Let us know in the comments. Also, do not forget to subscribe to the channel for more content related to rocket science. And as always, thanks for watching.