Rocket Lab Successfully Captures Falling Electron Rocket With a Helicopter

After nearly three years of preparation, small satellite launch company Rocket Lab has successfully caught one of its rockets in mid-air today, after launching the vehicle to space from New Zealand. The Verge reports: But by catching and reusing its rockets after flight, Rocket Lab hopes to cut down on the manufacturing cost associated with building an entirely new rocket for each of its missions. The goal is similar to that of SpaceX, which has become famous for landing and reusing its rockets post-flight. Rocket Lab also claims that recovering and reusing its rockets could also help speed up its flight cadence. "By bringing one back, it just saves a tremendous amount of time where you don't have to build a whole new rocket from scratch," Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab, tells The Verge. "So we'll obviously see some good cost savings, but I think the most important thing for us right now is just getting the vehicles back into the production line." When Electron launches to space, computers on board the vehicle guide the booster back through Earth's atmosphere, maneuvering it in just the right way so that it stays intact during the fall to the ground. Once the rocket reaches an altitude of about 8.3 miles up, it deploys a drogue parachute to slow its fall, followed by a main parachute. As the rocket leisurely floats down toward the ocean, that's when the helicopter will arrive and attempt to capture the line of the parachute with a dangling hook, avoiding a splashdown in salty seawater. UPDATE 4:08PM PST: Rocket Lab confirmed the helicopter catch. The summary and headline have been updated to reflect the successful mission. You can view the livestream of the launch here.

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