Rocket Lab Photon
Photon is a satellite bus based on Rocket Lab's Electron kick stage. It moves satellites into their appropriate orbits once boosted by rockets such as Electron. It is customizable for uses including LEO payload hosting, lunar flybys, and interplanetary missions.
Photon uses chemical propulsion for orbit adjustments. It can use a variety of engines, such as the Curie and HyperCurie engines, as well as engines from third-party sources, such as the one powering the EscaPADE mission.
Photon first launched in August 2020 on Rocket Lab's I Can't Believe It's Not Optical mission, where it served as a pathfinder. It has since flown three times. It flew the CAPSTONE mission.
Photon communicates on the S-band. Depending on the orbital inclination, it is expected to have a payload capacity of. The interplanetary version was to have a payload capacity.
HyperCurie is an evolution of the Curie engine, which comes in monopropellant and bipropellant versions, while the HyperCurie is hypergolic and electrically pumped.
Development
In April 2019, Rocket Lab announced plans to create a new satellite bus, named Photon, to position small satellites into orbit. Its goal was to reduce complexity and development time, enabling technology demonstrations without developing a full spacecraft. The company aimed to broaden its portfolio and diversify its revenue streams. The company announced it was targeting lunar orbit as part of its services, enabled by a bi-propellant propulsion system. The development of Photon included working with potential customers, with significant interest from government agencies. The first few Photon satellites would be technology demonstrators before transitioning to operational launches for customers, which started with NASA's CAPSTONE cubesat in June 2022.Rocket Lab planned to launch Photon to Venus in December 2025, delivering a laser-tunable mass spectrometer to the Venusian atmosphere.
Design
Photon is manufactured at Rocket Lab's factory in Huntington Beach, California. It can utilize a variety of engines, including those developed by Rocket Lab itself, such as the Curie and HyperCurie engines, as well as engines from third-party sources, such as the one powering the EscaPADE mission. Photon communicates on S-band. Depending on the orbital inclination, it is expected to have a maximum payload capacity of. The low Earth orbit version of Photon can take to Sun-synchronous orbit.A modified version of Photon has bigger propellant tanks and the HyperCurie engine for interplanetary missions. The interplanetary version has a payload capacity. HyperCurie is an evolution of the Curie engine, which comes in a monopropellant version and a bipropellant version, while the HyperCurie is a hypergolic version. HyperCurie is electrically pumped.
Initial launches
The inaugural Photon satellite was the Photon Pathfinder/First Light satellite described by Rocket Lab as its "first in-house designed and built Photon demonstration satellite". It was launched aboard Electron rocket on 31 August 2020 on the 14th Electron mission "I Can't Believe It's Not Optical". First Light had a dual role in the mission: first as the final rocket stage delivering the customer satellite and then as a standalone satellite undertaking its own orbital mission. The purpose of the First Light standalone mission was to demonstrate the new systems for operating in orbit as a long-duration standalone satellite. To demonstrate Photon's payload hosting capabilities, First Light had a low-resolution video camera.The second formal test, Photon Pathstone, was launched on 22 March 2021 on the 19th Electron mission "They Go Up So Fast". Like First Light, Pathstone first delivered customer satellites to orbit before transitioning into its own satellite operations. Pathstone operations were aimed at building flight heritage and focused on testing systems in preparation for launching NASA's CAPSTONE smallsat mission in June 2022. These tests included power and thermal management, attitude control via reaction wheels and communications systems.
The first operational launch for Photon was NASA's CAPSTONE smallsat mission. Qualification of the Photon kick stage for this mission was underway by December 2020. Photon delivered CAPSTONE on a trans-lunar injection burn on 6th day from liftoff after performing 6 apogee raising burns at perigee within every 24 hours from liftoff, leading to TLI and a near-rectilinear halo orbit. After this the CAPSTONE was deployed in its journey to the Moon.
After completing all the mission requirements for NASA, Rocket Lab utilised its Photon spacecraft for a low-altitude lunar flyby.