New Zealand To Launch First Private Space Rocket

RobGoldsmith sends in a Space Fellowship piece (which seems to be a press release) about New Zealand's entry into the space age. "Private New Zealand aerospace company Rocket Lab completed its final ground-based test today and is now ready to launch New Zealand into the space race with its Atea-1 launch vehicle. The first high-altitude launch of Atea-1 is scheduled for the end of November this year. Once Atea-1 has successfully concluded the development phase it will be the first privately built rocket launched from the Southern Hemisphere to enter space. The article features a new CGI movie on the launch."

Comments

Maybe not the first private rocket

[SgtChaireBourne]

I recall from an interview from the tv program 'Real People' with a fellow who had built a passenger rocket out of spare government parts. It was a torpedo-like tube with a very small window. There was passenger space for a lean person and a parachute.

I don't recall if it had been test fired. It was also unclear how high it would go. What I do remember well was when the builder was asked if he would fly in it, the answer was along the lines of "hell no".

Re:Maybe not the first private rocket

[elrous0]

If Andy Griffith could build the Salvage-1, then anyone could do it.

Rocket Lab to launch...

[Rob Kaper]

If it's truly private, Rocket Lab should get all credit, not New Zealand.

Re:Rocket Lab to launch...

[marc_the_kiwi]

If it's truly private, Rocket Lab should get all credit, not New Zealand.

If you were a born and bred New Zealander as I am you would realise that the people behind this are the same. Ask anyone from NZ what they are, and I guarantee you they're a kiwi ahead of all other things.
Reading the article it is quite clearly a kiwi invention. It is being tested with the help of Air New Zealand (partly government owned), it focuses on creating environmental aspects of their design (I can't think of anything more kiwiana) and imho embodies the 'No 8 wire' attitude.
(for those who don't know, No 8 wire is an icon in NZ. A flexible wire used on the farm to fix just about anything).

Many many things can be attributed to New Zealanders and their ingenuity, despite it being one of the youngest countries in the world.
1884 Air Tight Tin Lid - John Eustace
An air tight tin lid with a lip. Although others copied the idea, he was making 100 tonnes of tin cans a year in the 1920s.
1982 Baeyertz Tape - Dr John Baeyertz
Use for accurately estimating birth dates, still used world-wide today.
1988 Bungy - AJ Hackett
The world's first commercial bungy site was opened in 1988. In June 1987 AJ bungy jumped illegally from the Eiffel Tower.
1956 Disposable Hypodermic Syringe - Colin Murdoch
A disposable, pre-filled syringe.
1900 Eggbeater - Ernest Godward
An egg-beater that could prepare eggs for a sponge cake in three and a half minutes, previously it took 15
1944 Jogging - Arthur Lydiard
A training technique that saw his two protégés Peter Snell and Murray Halberg win gold medals on the same day at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
1953 Propellerless Jet Boat - William Hamilton
The world's first propellerless jet boat
1901 Spiral Hair Pin - Ernest Godward
This was a predecessor of the hair clip.
1919 Split the Atom - Sir Ernest Rutherford
The first in the world to in 1919. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for his efforts in radioactivity.
1970s Spreadable Butter - New Zealand Dairy Research Institute
After years of development, the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute released the worlds first spreadable butter in 1991, which was then made by New Zealand dairy co-operatives and now by Fonterra.
1950s Tranquilliser Gun - Colin Murdoch
A tranquilliser gun, also called a capture gun or dart gun, is a non-lethal gun which shoots tranquilliser darts filled with tranquilliser that, when injected, make the target animal sleep.
1972 Tullen Snips - John Hough
Scissors which could cut items as tough as one cent coins and by the 1980s more than 20 million had been made.
1884 Whistle in Sport - William Atack
The world's first referee to use a whistle to stop a game of sport.
1994 Zorb - Dwayne van der Sluis and Andrew Akers
Created the world's first Zorb, a unique adventure activity involving a giant plastic ball, a slope and speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour.

Re:Rocket Lab to launch...

[Nefarious Wheel]

I've seen some pretty amazing engineering coming out of our NZ neighbors. They remind me of the Swiss more than anyone else. Amazing motorcycles, Stirling-cycle heat pumps, custom cars, all good stuff and very advanced. It would not surprise me in the least if they succeeded in a private space venture.

Add good engineering to the amazing amount of high quality educational material available online (the full University syllabus material out there) and I can imagine little pockets of excellent engineering and sound science popping up all over the globe.

Give the Internet some credit for this too.

Re:Rocket Lab to launch...

[TorKlingberg]

A country is not just its government.

Manned "amateur" space flight in Denmark

[JesVestervang]

Here in Denmark, we have some guys working on a manned space flight: http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/ "Our mission is very simple. We are working towards launching a human being into space. This is a non-profit suborbital space endeavor lead by Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen, based entirely on sponsors and volunteers." Their progress is impressive!

Great Mercury Island

[FlightlessParrot]

Great Mercury Island is actually off the East Coast of the North Island, about the same latitude as Auckland. I expect they've designed it so it will work in the rain.

Bad idea?

[Anonymous Coward]

But they are on the bottom of the planet - won't they be firing the wrong way?

Re:Bad idea?

[Fred_A]

But they are on the bottom of the planet - won't they be firing the wrong way?

Of course not, it's a huge advantage, they just have to drop the rocket. They'll save loads of fuel.

Those New Zealanders...

[Chuq]

Let them into the World Cup and next thing you know they think they can join the space race!

Launched as

[kevingolding2001]

Rocket: Oh Noo, Oh Noo, I'm launched Broo. I'm launched es.
Satellite: Hey Broo, Hey Broo, what are you doing broo?
Rocket: Dude, I'm launched es.
Satellite: Ah Haw Shit. Your launched es!
Rocket: Tell me something I doo'nt noo.
Satellite:.... Broo, you're heaps launched es!
Rocket: Soo launched. Launched es.

Re:Launched as

[AGMW]

Unfortunately they've re-used existing Kiwi tech, so rather than a capsule to hold the pilot they just attach him to the bottom of the rocket with a bungee cord.
The rocket should get about half-way before the cord is tight enough to lift the pilot which has an added benefit, safety-wise, as any problems during the launch and they can just cut the cord!

xena connection

[hort_wort]

New Zealand is where Xena was filmed. The new planetoid recently discovered was also named Xena. Coincidence? I think not.

Re:xena connection

[confused one]

The dwarf planet you refer to is officially named Eris.

Bowie's In Space

[skyriser2]

Hopefully it will look something like this...

Flight of the Conchords, Bowie's In Space:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zV4pJ8MwM

Flight of the Conchords, indeed

[elrous0]

We should have never given these people the technology to make movies. They've progressed in only one generation from filmmaking to building rockets. Who knows what shenanigans they may be capable of in the next generation.