Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Rocket Lab Looks To Catch Returning Rocket Using A Helicopter

Land a rocket on a barge? Drop your rocket into the ocean with a parachute? Nope-- Long Beach-based Rocket Lab says it is planning to make an attempt to capture one of its Electron Rockets mid-air using a helicopter, during its next mission. According to Rocket Lab, the effort to catch its rocket by helicopter is part of its program to make its Electron rocket a reusable. The attempt will occur as part of the upcoming, commercial rideshare mission which is scheduled to lift off sometime after April 19th. Rocket Lab said it expects to deploy 34 payloads from commercial operators Alba Orbital, Astrix Astronautics, Aurora Propulsion Technologies, E-Space, Unseenlabs, and Swarm Technologies via the launch, and then will try to capture that returning rocket mid-air using a customized Sikorsky S-92 helicopter.