Rocket Lab aims to catch a falling Electron booster with a helicopter
Rocket Lab plans to pluck the falling first stage of one of its Electron launchers out of the sky with a helicopter on its next recovery mission. The timeline is not yet set, but this dramatic aerospace feat is likely to happen soon. “We certainly hope to have that flight within the first half of next year,” Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said. “Or as soon as practically possible, really.”
California-based Rocket Lab is working to make the first stage of the Electron reusable, an advance that would boost launch rates and reduce costs. The ultimate recovery strategy involves bringing boosters down slowly under a parachute and catching them in mid-air with a helicopter, which will haul them back to land for inspection, refurbishment and reflight.
The company has already made considerable progress towards this goal. It’s recovered Electron first stages during orbital launches three times to date, most recently on 17 November. Those were maritime operations; the boosters splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, offshore from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand launch site, and were hauled aboard a boat for the trip. A helicopter was involved in the most recent recovery, a mission that Rocket Lab called ‘Love At First Insight’. The chopper didn’t try to snag the booster, but it was stationed in the recovery zone to test booster tracking and communications among the helicopter team, mission control and the recovery ship.