Rocket Lab launch: Helicopter prepares for reusable rocket catching off Mahia coast

Rocket Lab's launch complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula. Photo / Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab's next launch from Mahia in just over a week will involve a reusable rocket.

The United States-based space company says the next mission would be its third ocean recovery mission, bringing Electron's first stage back to Earth under a parachute before a soft landing in the ocean where a team of engineers will be stationed to retrieve it, haul it onboard their vessel, and bring it back to Rocket Lab's production complex for inspection.

For the first time a helicopter will be involved in the operations offshore and will simulate catching a returning rocket in preparation for future mid-air recovery missions.

The mission — called Love At First Insight — is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia during a 14-day launch window that opens on November 11.

The mission's primary objective is to deploy two Earth-observation satellites for global monitoring company BlackSky, with the secondary objective to splash down and recover Electron's first stage to further validate Rocket Lab's recovery operations and hardware.

"We've perfected Electron's controlled descent, demonstrated flawless parachute deployment and successfully plucked stages from the ocean," Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck said.

"Now we're gearing up for the next stage — preparing to use a helicopter to catch a rocket as it descends to Earth from space.

"It's ambitious but with each recovery mission we've iterated and refined the hardware and processes to make the impossible ordinary.

"I'm excited to take what we learn from this launch and put it into practice with aerial capture missions in future."

Rocket Lab will be tracking the stage's descent from space and as it approaches 19,000 feet (5.7 kilometres) from the ocean surface, a helicopter will be dispatched to conduct reconnaissance of the returning booster.

The Love At First Insight mission will also feature new recovery hardware developments to Electron, including an advanced parachute to be deployed from the first stage at a higher altitude, allowing for a slower drift back to Earth to test communications and tracking for future aerial recovery.

Electron also features improvements to the first stage heat shield which protects its nine Rutherford engines while they endure up to 2200-degree heat and incredible pressure on the descent back to Earth.