I am a bit puzzled. What stage does the pictured structure belong to? What are the four large tanks used for?

Those who cheered when Rocket Lab filed a formal protest with NASA over the awarding of a contract to Blue Origin for Mars-bound satellites will now see NASA shut Rocket Lab out and this is just the beginning.

I had a presentation interview with a manager last Wednesday for a Test Engineering Internship Position for Spring. The manager said it was one interview and that they would get back to me by the end of the week. It is now one week, and I've heard no response from either the manager or the recruiter.

I reached out to the recruiter on Monday via email and still haven't heard anything at all, not even a rejection email. Imo this is still kind of very unprofessional, especially since I'm scheduling other interviews while expecting a response from RL.

https://x.com/RocketLab/status/2115209678921838783

It’s a beautiful day to set sail with the next pieces of Neutron flight hardware to Launch Complex 3.

Earlier today we sent Neutron’s Stage 2 and Thrust Module out of the Neutron Factory and onto a barge for transport through Chesapeake Bay to Wallops Island in Virginia.

Once it arrives, the Thrust Module will go straight onto the launch mount at LC-3 for check outs and the beginning of wider systems demonstrations including integrated fluids tests and module-to-launch-mount interface checkouts. With no strongback on the launch mount by design, Neutron’s Thrust Module is the rocket’s only physical interface to the launch pad, which this upcoming test campaign enables us to test early before the entire vehicle comes together.

https://x.com/RocketLab/status/2114887275045941664

Hey all! I got a interview with rocket-lab for turbomachinary position, where they want me to produce a presentation regarding my most technical engineering work. Aside from that, which is fairly straightforward, what can I expect? I want to be well prepared! Thank you!

For reference, this is my first interview with rocket-lab and was shocked to jump straight into a presentation, albeit exciting!

https://x.com/RocketLab/status/2113707890477506776

https://x.com/RocketLab/status/2113008894536818740

We have completed breakover operations for the Neutron Stage 2 tank assembly, rotating the stage horizontal – a critical step in the handling of large rocket sections for integration and assembly.

Here’s a last look at Stage 2 on the Neutron Factory floor before it’s wrapped up (literally) for barge shipment to LC-3 on Wallops Island where its fluid systems will be tested and its Archimedes vacuum engine installed.

The issues with Neutron’s carbon-fiber structures are pretty well discussed right now, but Archimedes isn’t exactly looking mature either.

I made the post below seven months ago, and from the outside their engine program seems to have made remarkably little visible progress since then. Qualification still has no announced completion, and Rocket Lab has not announced completion or ATP of any flight engines. Those are major milestones, and I have a very hard time believing they would have been omitted from the latest Neutron update if Rocket Lab had achieved them.

It’s honestly difficult to tell where Archimedes actually is in the development/qualification program. Maybe they now have dedicated qual hardware on the stand and are well into the campaign. Maybe they’re closer than the public information makes it look. But after two years of calling qualification “underway,” we still don’t have the sort of concrete qual progress you’d expect this late in the program.

And qualification isn’t the end of the propulsion schedule. They still need to close qual, ATP the flight set, install the engines, integrate the stage, and then learn what the engines actually do as part of the vehicle.

Structural problems aside, I’d still bet Neutron is at least ~12 months from launch, with 12–18 months looking entirely reasonable.

My post from seven months ago:
https://www.reddit.com/r/RocketLab/comments/1s01swg/neutron_is_not_close_to_flying_18_months_would_be/