Rocket Ship Bystander

@Alexphysics13 Yep true, I should have said it depends on how you measure the benefits of reusability. As an Englisher myself I should have used my English betta...

@spaceaotearoa Reusability is reusability. If I throw away something, I ain't reusing it therefore it's expendable. It's a very simple and easy to understand term. It's not related to cost, it's related to use. You use it once, it's a single-use item. You use it more than once, it's reusable

More and more often I’m seeing a whole lot of people thinking that Neutron is fully reusable and I think the whole reason is because the upper stage isn’t visible and they completely forget it’s there and it’s expendable

There has been some very interesting speculation building in the Rocket Lab community, and a recent post from a New Zealand logistics company may have just added a significant piece to the puzzle. It started when @Muzznzer spotted on X that the Payload Attach Fitting — also known as the PAF, or Payload Adapter — appeared to be missing from Rocket Lab's complex in New Zealand. Two to three days later, Rocket Freight LTD posted on Facebook about chartering an Antonov AN-124 — the largest cargo aircraft in the world — for a highly specialized, time-sensitive freight project in New Zealand. The operation involved aircraft charter coordination, oversized transport planning and permits, customs and biosecurity management, airside security, heavy lift loading using gantry cranes, and full airport and apron coordination. One piece of cargo measured an impressive 5.4 meters wide, requiring specialized route planning, pilot vehicles, and permits across multiple parties. facebook.com/share/r/1LRT1G… Screenshots from Rocket Freight LTD's video of the loading process appear consistent with what a PAF and associated Rocket Lab hardware would look like during transport. The AN-124 was tracked departing New Zealand, stopping in Fiji, and arriving in California. Now, we're not saying it's aliens — but something 5.4 meters wide, wrapped up tight, loaded in the dead of night onto the world's largest cargo plane, and flown across the Pacific for "analysis" does sound like it came straight out of a Roswell press briefing. We'll just say it's "unidentified freight objects" and leave it at that. In all seriousness, the big question now is: what happens next? Does this hardware go on a direct flight to Wallops Island, Virginia, or does it arrive near Baltimore, Maryland and make its way down by barge — possibly linking up with additional parts from Rocket Lab's facility in Maryland? Things are moving. Stay tuned. 📷@Roket Freight LTD 📷@RocketLab @NASASpaceflight

Good to see Rocket Lab stage separation test's i have included some of my own photos. Love to see state of the art rocket testing in New Zealand

@Muzznzer @ValueInIdeas Or...

$RKLB Knowing Rocket Lab's quirky naming protocol I think they really missed an opportunity naming the HyperCurie engine. Looking at an image on a post from @ValueInIdeas this morning I reckon Cyberman as in Dr Who would have suited it well.

😍

@MarcusHouse Tassie and NZ in frame, what a cool shot eh?

History in the making In this new image from our @NASAArtemis II crew, you can see Orientale basin on the right edge of the lunar disk. This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes.

@astro_reid @NASA @NASAArtemis I spy Aotearoa New Zealand! Ka pai!

There are no words.

@NASASpaceflight Great. Next! C'mon 41, don't be shy.

Ship 40 is fully tiled with TPS inside Starbase Mega Bay 2 and prepped for testing! Set for Flight 13, the vehicle is hoping to launch soon after Flight 12 in May. youtu.be/fbBWQnaqa74

@planet4589 @kwrzesien @torybruno Well using the people as a rough scale, maybe 6m tall/long by 2m at its widest?

@kwrzesien @torybruno Hey, could have asked for mass but I knew I wasn't going to get that. Length and diameter should be public though!

Ok. Here she is in all of her GEO-Interplanetary Class, Spacecraft Carrier, glory. The Blue Ring…

@CeaserG33 @NASASpaceflight No pins too. They could be testing a new tile and adhesive, time will tell.

Just spotted white heat tiles on Ship 45 at Starfactory! Could these be experimental reflective shields for HLS lunar missions, or a new ablative layer for hotter reentries? Maybe just unfinished tiles. What do yall think? @NASASpaceflight

@StarshipGazer Look ma, no pins!

New white heat shield tiles are being installed on the leeward side of a nose cone in Starfactory tonight. 3/6/26

@dpoddolphinpro @NASASpaceflight More urgently...

As you may have come to expect, my biggest concern with the new "standardized" SLS is... what will it be called? (I vote Block 1C)

@DJSnM Fred!

Sure we're all talking about how rockets will enable new industries in space and on the moon, but 200 years ago another Rocket revolutionized transportation and enabled new industries.

@cnunezimages @SpaceIntel101 ...tired.

Lookin a little ... - February 4, 2026

@ArianeGroup Ask @RocketLab !

At ArianeGroup, we’re also innovating at the level of basic materials. 👉 Do you think some other rocket parts could be redesigned to adopt these materials of the future? #RocketMakers #ArianeGroup #Ariane6 #Innovation #SpaceEngineering (5/5)

Shifting from metal to carbon: rockets are changing their skin. What if reduced weight turns into a big advantage? Our engineers use carbon fibres to build tomorrow’s rockets. They’re slender as human hair but stronger than steel. (1/5)

🚀 NordSpace is ramping up to launch the first flight of its Taiga rocket. If successful, it will mark the first Canadian commercial rocket launch from a private Canadian spaceport. 🔗 Read the full story: uofteng.ca/pi93i4

Huge congratulations @rookisaacman, exciting times ahead with you at the helm of NASA. Looking forward to working together to advance more opportunities for science and beyond!

@SpaceAbhi Dark side of the moon telescope, space elevator, asteroid colonisation, Saturn moon mining, you could go on. Sci-fi has visualised it all.

It’s hilarious to me that by the end of January every single tech VC will receive at least one pitch deck from a stealth startup working on a Lunar mass driver.