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Curie (rocket engine)
| Country of origin | New Zealand |
|---|---|
| First flight | 21 January 2018 |
| Designer | Rocket Lab |
| Manufacturer | Rocket Lab |
| Application | Upper/kick stage |
| Status | In production |
| Liquid-fuel engine | |
| Propellant | Unknown bipropellant |
| Cycle | Pressure-fed engine |
| Configuration | |
| Chamber | 1 |
| Performance | |
| Thrust, vacuum | 120 N (27 lbf)[1] |
| Restarts | multiple |
| Used in | |
| |
Curie is a liquid-propellant rocket engine designed and manufactured by Rocket Lab. A bipropellant is used for the propulsion of the third stage/kick stage of the Electron rocket, as well as the Photon.[2] The composition of the propellant is a trade secret.
The kick stage rocket produces 120 newtons (27 lbf) of thrust, and has a specific impulse of approximately 320 seconds.[3]
It was first used on 21 January 2018 during Rocket Lab's first successful orbital rocket launch, and helped to boost two small CubeSats, the weather and ship-tracking Lemur-2 CubeSats built by the company Spire Global, into a circular orbit.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
OfficialPayloadUsersGuidewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Photon". Rocket Lab. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ "Rocket Lab successfully circularizes orbit with new Electron kick stage". Rocket Lab. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
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