Hungry Hippo Fairing successfully qualified: Rocket Lab clears significant milestone on path to first Neutron launch

Rocket Lab Corporation has announced the Neutron launch vehicle’s innovative “Hungry Hippo” captive fairing has successfully completed qualification testing and is enroute to Virginia for Neutron’s first launch.

Dubbed the Hungry Hippo, Neutron’s fairing halves remain attached to the rocket’s first stage throughout launch and landing back to Earth – a world-first for a reusable commercial rocket. Whereas typical rockets’ fairing halves fall away during launch and are disposable or require collection at sea for reuse, Neutron’s fairing halves open to release the rocket’s second stage and mission payload before closing again to return Neutron to Earth as a single reusable vehicle – enabling rapid and cost-effective reuse and streamlining operations for a high-cadence launch service for commercial, civil, and national security missions.

The qualification is a key moment in the development of the reusable Neutron rocket, the world’s largest carbon composite launch vehicle with a lift capacity of up to 13,000kg (33,000 pounds). With the design, structure, and operations of Neutron’s innovative fairing now qualified for flight, Hungry Hippo is enroute to Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 3 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia ahead of Neutron’s first launch. Development of Neutron began in late 2021 and with the first launch scheduled for liftoff in 2026, it remains on track to be one of the fastest commercially developed rockets in history.

Rocket Lab Vice President – Neutron, Shaun D’Mello, says: “A rocket like Neutron has never been built before, and we’re doing it at a pace and price point that’s going to bring the innovation and competition needed in today’s industry. Building, qualifying, and shipping Hungry Hippo is a fantastic marker of progress toward Neutron’s first launch, and I’m proud of the team for their attention to detail and pulling off this significant milestone.”

Hungry Hippo Qualification Program

To qualify the Hungry Hippo fairing for Neutron’s first launch, Rocket Lab completed an intensive qualification and acceptance testing campaign that validated the structure’s expected performance during the intense aerodynamic pressure of launch and re-entry featuring full-scale tests as well as a series of sub-component tests.

Tests have included (but are not limited to):

• 275,000 pounds of force distributed across the Hungry Hippo’s carbon composite structure to simulate the load experienced during Max Q, the stage of flight where the rocket experiences maximum aerodynamic pressure.

• Opening and closing the fairing halves under flight-like conditions in 1.5 seconds, less than half the time required for a successful stage separation and vehicle reorientation for descent.

• Flight-like operations combining flight software, avionics, GNC systems, and more, controlling both the canard actuation and fairing actuation systems, and using flight hardware for all avionics, harnessing, and mechanical systems.

• Combined torque and bending loads introduced at the canard hubs where the vehicle’s aerodynamic control surfaces, or canards, are integrated to Neutron’s fairing structure. These tests exceeded 125% of the load expected through all phases of flight.

• Exceedance of the handling loads that Hungry Hippo will experience throughout Neutron’s full lifecycle: from integration of the Stage 2 that is attached to the interior of the rocket through to the full assembly Neutron and integration of the launch vehicle onto the launch mount, as well as recovery of the launch vehicle from its landing barge named ‘Return On Investment’.

Once Hungry Hippo arrives in Virginia, the fairing structure will be integrated to Neutron’s first stage in final flight configuration to undergo pre-launch testing, including static fires and a Wet Dress Rehearsal, at Launch Complex 3 ahead of first launch.