[[Home|🏠]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> [[Hardware]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> Curie ## Summary **Curie** is a small, additively manufactured, storable, restart-able, pressure-fed bi-propellant engine integrated with lightweight composite propellant tanks and valves into a single compact module. Curie enables on orbit maneuvering and positioning, plane changes, and deorbit burns. ![[Pasted image 20250629161724.jpg]] ## Specifications | Specification | Value | | ------------------ | ---------------------- | | Thrust, Vacuum | 120 N (27 lbf) | | ISP, Vacuum | ~300 s* | | Restarts | Multiple | | Chamber | 1 | | Cycle | Pressure-fed Engine | | Propellant | Unknown Bi-propellant | | Propellant Storage | Carbon Composite Tanks | ## HyperCurie ### Summary HyperCurie is an upgraded version of Rocket Lab’s original Curie engine. In contrast to the pressure-fed Curie, HyperCurie uses an electric pump-fed cycle and burns a [hypergolic propellant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypergolic_propellant) (Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen (MON) and Monomethyl Hydrazine (MMH)), enabling reliable multiple restarts and higher performance for deep-space missions. It was first flown on Rocket Lab’s [[Explorer#Lunar Photon|Lunar Photon]] spacecraft during the [[CAPSTONE]] mission to the Moon in June 2022. ![[Pasted image 20250629160757.jpg|300]] ### Specifications | Feature | Curie | HyperCurie | | ------------------ | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | | Feed System | Pressure-fed | Electric pump-fed | | Propellant Type | Unknown bi-propellant / mono | Hypergolic bi-propellant | | Thrust | \~120 N | \~480 N | | ISP | \~300 s | \~310 s | | Use Case | LEO orbit maneuvers, deorbit | Deep-space transfer (Moon, beyond) | | First Mission | 2018 | 2022 (CAPSTONE) | | Special Capability | Can be monoprop or bi-prop | Optimized for multi-burn high-energy | ## Specific Impulse Rocket Lab does not publicly disclose ISP of the Curie Engine but did give specifics for HyperCurie in the [CAPSTONE brochure](https://rocketlabcorp.com/assets/Uploads/EXC22_017%20-%20Photon%20Doc_%C6%92%20%5BWeb%5D.pdf), [[Peter Beck]] also provided some details in a tweet, he also noted in another interview that HyperCurie has ~10 seconds more ISP than standard configuration. From that we can infer **300 and 310 seconds of ISP for Curie and HyperCurie** . ![[Pasted image 20250701022803.png]] [Source](https://rocketlabcorp.com/assets/Uploads/EXC22_017%20-%20Photon%20Doc_%C6%92%20%5BWeb%5D.pdf) ![[Pasted image 20250629162257.png]] [Source](https://x.com/Peter_J_Beck/status/1296211126636523520) ![[Pasted image 20250629162422.png]] [Source](https://youtu.be/Knk_RuV7mao?t=459) ## Monopropellant Curie can be operated in a monopropellant configuration. Rocket Lab developed an in-house Viscus Liquid Monopropellant (VLM), [patented in 2012](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20120234196A1/en), but in a Reddit AMA [[Peter Beck]] confirmed that the kick stage **does [not use VLM](https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/8a1wwy/comment/dwvf7yz/)** ## Media ### HyperCurie Hot Fire