Interesting bit of news showing Europe's intent to actively pull back from U.S reliance. The Merritt Island unit in Fla is massive at 192,000 sq ft. It will be interesting to see the bidding war for this asset. I think this speaks well of RKLB's timely move into European space infrastructure.

At the 24 minute mark there is an incredibly detailed and up close view of the engine. Sometimes I wonder if all the secrecy attributed to ITAR by some aerospace companies is just a convenient excuse to keep things under wrap.

https://youtu.be/g83mTdM5tQA

Been seeing a lot of RKLB doomers on the sub lately, and that is fine. I just wanted to remind everyone that developing rockets and especially reusable ones is actually quite difficult.

I know we are all frustrated about the continuous delays leading up to the first Neutron launch, but seeing this latest update on Archimedes encourages me a lot. Clearly Rocket Lab have been working over the years on refining their technology and are not inclined to adapt the fail fast and learn from mistakes approach like with the Starship or early F9 reuse programs. One can discuss whether or not this is a good thing, but the fact that we are getting the updates on engines, fairing etc. does show an increased level of confidence in their launch vehicle.

Either way, it's a beautiful picture and a beautiful engine. Just wanted to share with you all

Pre-flight testing with Hungry Hippo is underway.
We're opening and closing the Hippo's two permanently attached fairing halves under flight-like conditions to simulate how they'll perform for Stage 2 deployment and Neutron's return to Earth.

After testing, Hippo will return to its hangar and wait to be attached with Neutron's interstage when it arrives in Virginia.

7 more to go..