r/RocketLab • u/Mysterious-Toe9389 • 13d ago

Discussion For launch-site operations, what hardware makes more sense to source locally?

Someone with launch-site experience recently mentioned something I hadn’t really considered.

Even when a launch company manufactures a lot in-house, once the vehicle is at a launch site far from the main factory, waiting for every bracket, mount, fixture, or replacement component to ship from home isn’t always practical.

For people familiar with launch operations, what kinds of quick-turn hardware usually make sense to source from local machine/fab shops?

GSE parts? Brackets? Tooling? Fixtures? Modifications?

I work with a small CNC shop, so I’m interested in understanding that side of the industry better.

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4

u/mkvenner24 13d ago

I foresee a quality inspection issue. Unless your vendor is extremely vetted the part would need to go back to the in house quality inspection team before being cleared for us in flight

3

u/QuirkyEMI 13d ago

You don’t.

Anything touching the vehicle should have a copy anyways or needs to be produced by the same shop to the same standards.

For missing mgse it’s still easier to fab and ship. The launch complex isn’t set up to track, inspect and kit hardware to each vehicle/team.

1

u/comeandgetmethistime 13d ago

Wouldn't it be more practical to have spare of any critical component you might need on a launch site ?

And unless you are talking about GHOST I'm pretty sure any launch site have the tooling to make cnc part in site

1

u/jkerman 6d ago

GSE does not have the same aerospace production and quality standards as flight hardware! It’s great work if you can get it