Interested in 3D printers but don’t know which one to buy? If you’re looking for a worthy machine, visit Top 3D Shop and check out our 3D printer reviews, we’ll help you choose the machine you need!
Vector Space Systems, based in Arizona, has launched the first 3D-printed Vector-R ultra-small launch vehicle.
The Arizona startup was registered just over a year ago, but is almost ready for commercial launches of small satellites. Vector Space Systems' business model is based on the desire to provide customers with a convenient, relatively inexpensive and available at any time delivery vehicle into orbit. The rapid progress is due in no small part to the expertise of a team of former SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, McDonnell Douglas and Sea Launch employees. The company is run by Jim Cantrell, a veteran of the renowned NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a former employee of the French National Center for Space Research (CNES) and one of the founders of SpaceX. However, Jim did not get along with Musk. As Cantrell explains, Elona is interested in large rockets and the colonization of Mars, while Cantrell himself is primarily interested in democratizing near space with inexpensive rockets. As a result, Jim parted ways with SpaceX and created his own company, Vector Space Systems.
The company conducted its first test run in July last year, just three months after the project began. An experimental rocket under the article number "R-20", equipped with an engine with 3D-printed parts, took off with a payload of 50 kg, consisting of electronics. The purpose of the launch was to test the cargo for survivability, because, unlike its large counterparts, a small rocket launches with a higher acceleration. The experiment was successful, and now the company has carried out the first test launch of the final, full-scale 12-meter version of its launch vehicle.
As befits a serious business, Vector Space Systems flies for someone else's money. The first trials caught the attention of $ 21 million in investors, and the last launch was paid for by an unnamed customer. Most likely we are talking about an advance from the Finnish company Iceye, which plans to launch thirty satellites over the next five years and has entered into the first major contract with Vector Space Systems. How much will such a pleasure cost? Developers estimate the cost of a single launch at $ 3 million versus $ 60 or so for SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle. This is more expensive per kilogram of payload, but unlike Musk's or other competitors' brainchild, Vector Space Systems intends to carry out launches as soon as possible and adapt to individual customers.
