Rocket Lab Failed To Catch Booster Mid-air Using a Helicopter After Successfully Sending Satellites to Orbit

On May 2, Rocket Lab conducted its first-stage recovery attempt with the launch of its rocket mission. The mission dubbed "There And Back Again" used a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter to snatch mid-air the booster of a reusable Electron rocket.

Six months later, the company attempts to perform its second recapturing mission dubbed "Catch Me If You Can" which successfully liftoff on Friday, November 5, at 17:27 UTC (Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, at 6:27 AM NZDT). However, this recent mission is not like the first attempt.

Catching Reusable Rockets

Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully deployed the satellite known as Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy (MATS) to orbit an hour after liftoff as planned, Space.com reports.

The 59-foot-tall rocket is a small satellite launcher with 32 missions under its belt and is currently a completely expendable vehicle that allows the company to reuse and boost its flight rate while reducing costs at the same time.

Unlike SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, Electron is too small to perform powered vehicle landings and it does not have enough fuel left over after launch for such maneuvers. So, Rocket Lab designed a way to recover the booster using the helicopter that grabs ahold of Electron's parachute line with a hook when it descends.

The company has made some progress toward its goal of reusability and the success of the "There and Back Again" mission last May is proof of that. The Sikorsky S-92 helicopter successfully snagged the first stage of the rocket and shortly dropped it after the newly captured load behaved in unexpected ways.

Rocket Lab recovered the booster out of the sea and hauled it back to the shore. They analyzed the flown booster and refurbished it before testing one of its nine Rutherford engines.

Company representatives wrote in a recent press release that the refurbished engine passed all rigorous acceptance tests, which shows that it could perform at the same standard as a newly built Rutherford engine. Despite its success, the |second recapturing mission this year unfortunately failed.

Catch Me If You Can Mission: Helicopter Failed to Catch the Booster

CNN reported that Rocket Lab was not able to pull off the catch on Friday as the rocket booster tumbled down toward Earth. The wild recapturing of the rocket mid-air by a helicopter is part of the company's p[lans to save money by recovering and reusing rocket parts after they send satellites to space.

The primary goal of the "Catch Me If You Can" mission hit its mark without a hitch as it carried a science research satellite to orbit for the Swedish National Space Agency.

As the first stage of the rocket finished firing and detached from the second stage, it began falling back toward Earth and the deployed parachute helped slow its descent. Rocket Lab's deployed Sikorsky-92 helicopter is on standby to catch it mid-air, aiming to snag the booster by its parachute.

Rocket Lab's communications manager Murielle Baker said in a live stream that the helicopter pilots only have 10 minutes from the time the parachute was deployed to capture the booster.

However, the rocket never came into view and Baker confirmed that the pilots would not be returning to the factory with a dry booster. They explained in a Twitter post that there was a data loss issue during the rocket's reentry, hence the failed recapturing mission. Although they do have a backup option in case of an ocean splashdown.

Check out more news and information on Rocket Lab in Science Times.