Curie (rocket engine)

Curie
Country of origin	New Zealand
First flight	21 January 2018
Designer	Rocket Lab
Manufacturer	Rocket Lab
Application	Upper/kick stage
Status	In production
Liquid-fuel engine
Propellant	Unknown bipropellant
Configuration
Chamber	1
Performance
Thrust, vacuum	120 N (27 lbf)
Restarts	multiple
Used in
	Electron (kickstage); Photon;

Curie is a liquid-propellant rocket engine designed and manufactured by Rocket Lab. A bipropellant is used for the propulsion of the third stage/kick stage of the Electron rocket, as well as the Photon.^[2] The composition of the propellant is a trade secret.

The kick stage rocket produces 120 newtons (27 lb_f) of thrust, and has a specific impulse of approximately 320 seconds.^[3]

It was first used on 21 January 2018 during Rocket Lab's first successful orbital rocket launch, and helped to boost two small CubeSats, the weather and ship-tracking Lemur-2 CubeSats built by the company Spire Global, into a circular orbit.

^ Cite error: The named reference OfficialPayloadUsersGuide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Photon". Rocket Lab. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
^ "Rocket Lab successfully circularizes orbit with new Electron kick stage". Rocket Lab. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.

[OfficialPayloadUsersGuide-1] Cite error: The named reference OfficialPayloadUsersGuide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Photon-2] "Photon". Rocket Lab. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.

[rlab20180123-3] "Rocket Lab successfully circularizes orbit with new Electron kick stage". Rocket Lab. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.

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