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  • Hacker News
  • As a person involved in the operations side of this campaign. HOLY SHIT we did it!
  • Congrats! Do you have an EU flag on the wall like the US space companies have an US flag?
  • Well done!
  • FANTASTIC accomplishment, congratulations!!!!

    Now: please make it rapidly reusable and at least 10x larger. Europe desperately needs sovereign launch capabilities in that class. Today, you were the first to cross the starting line. AWESOME. Have a drink, get some rest, and get back to work. Everyone will be rooting for you!

  • Congratulations to all involved!
  • With a pretty good sized rocket as well. 4x Rocket Lab’s Electron payload and 4x to 9x smaller than Falcon 9.
  • How does Isar Aerospace fit in with other smaller rocket launchers?

    I'd imagine they are well behind, say, RKLB, but how far are they from commercial launches?

    Edit after some digging, some background info:

       Vehicle   | Height | Diameter | Payload to LEO
      -----------+--------+----------+----------------
       Electron  |  18 m  |   1.8 m  |      300 kg
       Isar      |  28 m  |   2.0 m  |     1000 kg
       Neutron * |  43 m  |   7.0 m  |    13000 kg
       Falcon 9  |  70 m  |   3.7 m  |    23000 kg
    
      * in the works
    
    To Rocket Lab's defense, they do quite a bit more than just launching Electrons and chipping at the Neutron.
  • This second launch included some payloads - cube sats.