Rocket Lab a step closer to using reusable rockets from Mahia launch pad

PUT TO THE TEST: Helicopters move into position for the mid-air recovery test of a Rocket Lab Electron first stage test article 100 kilometres off the coast of Auckland. One of the choppers dropped the stage, deploying its parachute in the process. The other then snagged the drogue line of the parachute with a specially-designed grappling hook (see the following picture in this gallery). The test went perfectly, said Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck. Pictures supplied

Space systems and satellite launch company Rocket Lab is a step closer to using reusable rockets from its Mahia launch pad after a successful test involving helicopters catching a parachuting rocket stage.

The company successfully completed a mid-air recovery test — a manoeuvre that involved a chopper snagging an Electron test stage from the sky — in the first week of March.

A company statement said the test was conducted by dropping an Electron first stage test article from a helicopter over open ocean 100 kilometres out to sea, off the coast of Auckland.

A parachute was then deployed from the stage before a second helicopter closed in on the descending stage and captured it mid-air at around 5000 feet, using a specially-designed grappling hook to snag the parachute's drogue line.

After capturing the stage on the first attempt, the helicopter safely transported the suspended test stage back to land.

Rocket Lab worked with an Auckland-based helicopter company to complete the test.

The successful test is the latest in a series of milestones for Rocket Lab as the company works towards a reusable first stage.

On the company's two most recent missions, launched in December 2019 and January 2020, Rocket Lab successfully completed guidance of the re-entries of Electron's first stage.

Both stages on those missions carried new hardware and systems to enable recovery testing, including guidance and navigation hardware, S-band telemetry and on-board flight computer systems, to gather data during the stage's atmospheric re-entry.

One stage was also equipped with a reaction control system that oriented the first stage 180 degrees for its descent, keeping it dynamically stable for the re-entry.

The stage slowed from more than 7000 kilometres an hour to less than 900kmh by the time it reached sea level, maintaining the correct angle of attack for the full descent.

“Congratulations to the recovery team here at Rocket Lab on a flawless mid-air recovery test,” chief executive Peter Beck said.

“Electron has already unlocked access to space for small satellites but every step closer to reusability is a step closer to even more frequent launch opportunities for our customers.

“We're looking forward to pushing the technology even further this year and bringing a flown stage back to the factory.”

The next phase of recovery testing will see Rocket Lab try to recover a full Electron first stage, after launch, from the ocean downrange of Launch Complex 1 and ship it back to Rocket Lab's production complex for refurbishment.

The stage will not be captured mid-air by helicopter for that test but will be equipped with a parachute to slow its descent before a soft landing in the ocean, where it will be collected by a ship.

That mission is planned for late 2020.