“Returning a rocket from space is a challenge, and capturing it in the air with a helicopter is as complicated as it sounds,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck. “The odds of success are much smaller than those of failure because so many complex factors have to line up perfectly.” Rocket Lab’s Electron can carry 300 kilograms into low Earth orbit and has over 30 successful launches to its name. But the craft is not reusable because its first stage either ejects into the ocean – which probably upsets its engines – or burns up on re-entry. Rocket Lab has recovered Electron boosters and successfully recovered and restored an engine for ground firing tests. To make Electron reusable, the company hopes to catch Electrons as they float to Earth under a parachute. This plan calls for the use of the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter which is more than capable of carrying the 1,000 kg booster. But catching it is another matter. As Rocket Lab staff explained during the livestreamed video (watch below) of the mission: “Between the deployment of the main parachute and the time it would take the Electron to reach the ocean, our pilots have about ten minutes to complete the capture. time it takes our pilots to control the Sikorsky, balance the swing of the hook from below while attached to the helicopter line, connect directly to the Electron’s parachute line, and then secure the rocket from below them for the return journey”. Unfortunately, in this case, a brief loss of telemetry from the Electron’s first stage on re-entry meant that capture was not attempted. And fair enough, given that the Sikorsky crew must clearly be pretty sure they know the rocket isn’t going to blow them out of the sky. YouTube video Rocket Lab does not consider the mission a failure because it was able to recover the booster from the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand. “We are proud to have successfully recovered our fifth rocket from the ocean now and look forward to another airborne capture attempt in the future as we work to make the Electron a reusable rocket,” Beck said. The CEO is happiest about the main job of this mission: launching a satellite called MATS (Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy) for the Swedish space agency. MATS’ job is to investigate waves in the atmosphere and their effects on Earth’s climate. The satellite does this by studying variations in the light emitted by oxygen molecules at an altitude of 100 kilometers. The satellite lifted off without incident and now occupies a circular orbit of 585 kilometers, making it the 152nd successful launch by Rocket Lab. ®
