We have completed breakover operations for the Neutron Stage 2 tank assembly, rotating the stage horizontal – a critical step in the handling of large rocket sections for integration and assembly. Here’s a last look at Stage 2 on the Neutron Factory floor before it’s wrapped up (literally) for barge shipment to LC-3 on Wallops Island where its fluid systems will be tested and its Archimedes vacuum engine installed.

Production of the new carbon composite forward dome for Neutron’s Stage 1 propellant tank is underway. Our automated fiber placement (AFP) machine follows a computer-controlled course to lay down thousands of strands of carbon fiber - each thinner than a human hair - at speeds of up to 100 meters per minute to create Stage 1’s structures on custom molds. Once the AFP machine is finished with the new forward dome it will be rolled out, inspected, then prepared for the curing process to harden the carbon composite.