Rocket Lab Explorer Interplanetary Spacecraft
Explorer is Rocket Lab's high-delta-v interplanetary spacecraft platform, with large propellant tanks, deep-space avionics, and ranging transponders. Rocket Lab identifies the CAPSTONE spacecraft as Explorer flight heritage and the Venus Life Finder transfer spacecraft as an Explorer mission; earlier mission material and NASA's 2025 capsule update call this heritage architecture High-Energy Photon or Photon.
Identity
- Aliases
- Rocket Lab ExplorerHigh-Energy PhotonLunar PhotonPhoton interplanetary spacecraft
- Family Name
- Explorer
- Full Name
- Rocket Lab Explorer Interplanetary Spacecraft
- Reusability
- expendable
- Slug
- rocket-lab-explorer-spacecraft
- Status
- active
- Type
- spacecraft
Details
- Description
- Explorer is Rocket Lab's high-delta-v interplanetary spacecraft platform, with large propellant tanks, deep-space avionics, and ranging transponders. Rocket Lab identifies the CAPSTONE spacecraft as Explorer flight heritage and the Venus Life Finder transfer spacecraft as an Explorer mission; earlier mission material and NASA's 2025 capsule update call this heritage architecture High-Energy Photon or Photon.
- First Flight Year
- 2,022
- Manufacturer Id
- jd789bbr70s3k0kj4czsm3ep0n7kq3ry
- Operator Id
- jd789bbr70s3k0kj4czsm3ep0n7kq3ry
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- 7/17/2026, 6:37:03 AM
- Updated Time
- 7/17/2026, 6:39:13 AM