In its quest to become another private space company with a reusable rocket, Rocket Lab has successfully captured the first stage of its Electron rocket in the air with the help of a helicopter – a feat never done before.
Rocket laboratory
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The rocket was about to launch 34 satellites into orbit. To help the first stage survive its re-entry into the atmosphere, the rocket reoriented the rocket to an ideal angle, which helped it cope better with enormous heat and pressure.
When the module was detached, it deployed a braking parachute, which allowed an increase in resistance, which may allow the deployment of the main parachute in its final descent stage.
Parallel to him, a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter approached the falling set to meet him at 6,500 feet and caught him with a cable hook. According to the pilots, despite the successful capture, the catch was not easy as the amplifier hung under the helicopter, forcing the pilots to release it into the ocean to eventually be retrieved and loaded onto a ship to be transported back to Rocket headquarters. Lab.
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Rocket laboratory
The real goal was to catch the booster in the air and take it straight to headquarters, not to fall into the sea, as salt water can seriously damage the booster and can cost more money to get it back to work.
According to Rocket Lab, the test offers the pilot a different load characteristic than what they tested, and this would be important for future filming. If the company can prove that it can reuse its SpaceX-like accelerators, the company could increase the frequency of launches, as well as reduce the cost of missions for small satellite launches.
Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said in a statement: “Returning a rocket from space and capturing it by helicopter is like supersonic ballet. A huge number of factors need to be reconciled and many systems need to work together flawlessly, so I am incredibly proud of the stellar efforts of our recovery team and all of our engineers who made this mission and our first catch a success. From here, we will evaluate the stage and determine what changes we may want to make to the system and procedures for the next helicopter catch and possible re-flight. “
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