Published:
5 Nov 2022 02:16 GMT
“Bringing a rocket back from space is a challenging task, and capturing it in the air with a helicopter is as complex as it sounds,” said the founder and CEO of the aerospace company.
US aerospace company Rocket Lab launched a Swedish research satellite into orbit on Friday, but again failed to catch its Electron rocket booster in the air with a helicopter.
The company’s goal is to reuse as many components of its spacecraft as possible, thereby increasing launch frequency and reducing costs. To do this, try to catch them in flight with a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, from which hangs a hook that must catch the parachute of the first stage of the rocket when it returns to Earth.
In this context, the most recent Electron was launched from New Zealand at 17:27 GMT (6:27 Saturday local time), as part of the Catch Me If You Can mission, which sought put into orbit the MATS satellite of the Swedish National Space Agency.
Upon its return, the propeller experienced a brief loss of telemetry and the helicopter crew, following safety protocols, had to leave the capture area. Subsequently, the space artifact completed its fall into the ocean and will be picked up by a company ship for subsequent inspection.
“Bringing a rocket back from space is a challenging task, and capturing it in the air with a helicopter is as complex as it sounds,” he claimed Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck. “The chances of success are much lower than the chances of failure, due to many complex factors that have to line up perfectly,” he added.
Last May, Rocket Lab carried out a first attempt that was about to succeed. However, the helicopter pilots, after having managed to grab the artifact, had to release it to continue its descent after detecting “load characteristics different from those previously experienced in the tests.”
