The small launch company Rocket Lab USA Inc. he captured a falling rocket from the air with a helicopter before launching it into the ocean, apparently achieving a partially successful test of the company’s new cost-saving approach to recovering used missiles for multiple missions to space.
The demonstration, which included parachutes and a long cable hanging from a helicopter, aimed to mark a key milestone for the Long Beach, California-based company, as it dares to reduce the cost of sending things into space, a billionaire industry trend SpaceX by entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Helicopter hangs while trying to capture the first stage of the Electron rocket in the air over New Zealand, Tuesday, May 3, 2022 (Rocket Lab / Associated Press)
After taking off to send 34 satellites into orbit at 10:50 a.m. Tuesday (6:50 p.m. ET Monday) in New Zealand, Electron’s four-story acceleration stage fell back into the Earth’s atmosphere and deployed a series of parachutes to stop its speed. .
At high altitude above the South Pacific, off the coast of New Zealand, a helicopter hanging a long vertical cable from below was piloted by two pilots over an accelerator that had stretched a grip line on the side as it parachuted. with about 35 kilometers per hour.
In this image provided by Rocket Lab, the Electron rocket launched for its mission “Back and forth” from their launch site on the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, on Tuesday. (Rocket Lab / Associated Press)
The helicopter’s cable is attached to the amplifier’s capture line, as seen in the company’s live broadcast, to applause and applause from Rocket Lab engineers at the company’s mission management center in Long Beach.
But engineers’ applause turned into moans of sound when helicopter pilots were forced to release the rocket from the cable and sink it into the Pacific Ocean after noticing “different load characteristics” from what had been tested in previous tests. capture, a Rocket Lab spokesman later confirmed.
A completely successful test would involve transporting the rocket accelerator back to land or barge without touching ocean water.
Incredible catch from the recovery team, I can’t begin to explain how difficult this catch was and that the pilots got it. They released it after the connection, as they were not happy with the way it flew, but no big deal, the rocket exploded safely and the ship is loading it now.
– @ Peter_J_Beck
“It’s not a big deal,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck wrote on Twitter. “The rocket exploded safely and the ship is loading it now.”
It was not immediately clear whether Rocket Lab planned to reuse the booster.
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