Rocket Lab is a small rocket manufacturer based in New Zealand, to be clear: small rocket manufacturer. Their orbit-capable rocket, the Electron, launched for the first time in 2017, before successfully sending a payload to orbit in early 2018.

The Electron is a showcase of state-of-the-art technology: a partly carbon composite launch vehicle with 3D printed engines. It’s ‘light’ and ‘small’ in comparison to more well-known rocket designs. It’s not the smallest rocket capable of launching a payload into orbit – that would be the 10m tall Japanese SS-520, but it’s not far off, standing at only 17m tall.

SpaceX is currently all the rage with their cost-saving reusable space program, and the eventual goal of sending humans to the planet Mars, but the future of (most) commercial space might just be with the Electron.

The satellite and space industry is expected to rapidly grow, in what is being called the commercial space race. Plenty of competitors are stepping into the arena, including VirginOrbit, which aims to launch their first satellite in 2018, and missions with this LauncherOne are estimated to cost about $12 million a pop. A considerable part of this growing industry is ‘small satellites’, which weigh less than 500kg.

The most noticeable difference between rockets like the Electron and the Falcon 9, is size. The Electron is about the height of a spruce tree, whilst the Falcon 9 towers as high as a modern cruise ship. Unsurprisingly, the size directly impacts the amount of fuel onboard and the lifting power of the rocket. If you want to put a 600kg satellite into orbit, rockets like SpaceX’s Falcon are the cheaper option, but if your satellite weighs just 200kg, Rocket Lab’s Electron should interest you.

Launching your hypothetical satellite aboard an Electron into LEO would cost you $5 million, compared to the Falcon 9’s $60 million. Typically if you would want to launch several small satellites, you might put 10 of them on a Falcon 9 – like last month’s Iridium-5 NEXT mission – and launch all of them into their desired orbits above the Earth. However, even then, the Electron still wins: $10*5 million is still 10 million dollars less than the single Falcon 9 launch (and that’s assuming Rocket Lab wouldn’t give you a bulk buy discount).

As of the date of writing, the Electron currently has 4 completed missions under its belt. Rocket Lab might not take humans to Mars or come close to the miracle design of the BFR, but the Electron is right now the cheapest way to put a small satellite in LEO orbit. That’s not to say that larger rockets will be obsolete any time soon, they have their uses for the larger satellites, or for putting the payload into a higher orbit. Certainly, however, the successful launches of the Electron are very exciting for future of the commercial space industry.

Sources: Financial Times; JAXA; Rocket Lab; SpaceNews.com; SpaceX; The Verge.