Curie (rocket engine)
| 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 |
| Cycle | Pressure-fed engine |
| Configuration | |
| Chamber | 1 |
| Performance | |
| Thrust, vacuum | 120 N (27 lbf) |
| Restarts | multiple |
| Used in | |
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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. The composition of the propellant is a trade secret.
The kick stage rocket produces 120 newtons (27 lbf) of thrust, and has a specific impulse of approximately 320 seconds.
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.