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Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys
34 Satellites and Catches Rocket Booster Returning from
Space with Helicopter
May 2, 2022
Rocket Lab has successfully
launched its 26th Electron mission, deploying 34
satellites to orbit. Rocket Lab has now deployed a total
of 146 satellites to orbit with the Electron launch
vehicle.
The “There And Back Again” mission
also saw Rocket Lab complete a mid-air capture of the
Electron booster with a helicopter for the first time.
After launching to space, Electron’s first stage
returned to Earth under a parachute. At 6,500 ft, Rocket
Lab’s Sikorsky S-92 helicopter rendezvoused with the
returning stage and used a hook on a long line to
capture the parachute line. The mid-air capture is a
major milestone in Rocket Lab’s pursuit to make Electron
a reusable rocket to increase launch frequency and
reduce launch costs for small satellites. After the
catch, the helicopter pilot detected different load
characteristics than previously experienced in testing
and offloaded the stage for a successful splashdown. The
stage is being loaded onto Rocket Lab’s recovery vessel
for transport back to the Company’s production complex
for analysis and assessment for re-flight as planned.
The mid-air capture comes after
successful recovery operations from Rocket Lab’s 16th,
20th, and 22nd missions, which saw Electron’s first
stage execute a controlled ocean splashdown before being
returned to Rocket Lab’s production complex. Like those
missions, a reaction control system re-oriented the
first stage to an ideal angle for re-entry during the
“There And Back Again” mission, enabling the stage to
survive the incredible heat and pressure during its
descent back to Earth. A drogue parachute was deployed
to increase drag and to stabilize the first stage as it
descended, before a large main parachute was deployed in
the final kilometers of descent. “There And Back Again”
is the first time a helicopter catch attempt was
introduced to recovery operations and today’s mission
will inform future helicopter captures.
“Bringing a rocket back from space
and catching it with a helicopter is something of a
supersonic ballet,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO,
Peter Beck. “A tremendous number of factors have to
align and many systems have 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’ll
assess the stage and determine what changes we might
want to make to the system and procedures for the next
helicopter catch and eventual re-flight.”
The “There And Back Again” mission
launched from Pad A at Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 on
New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 10:49 am NZST, 3 May
2022, deploying satellites for Alba Orbital, Astrix
Astronautics, Aurora Propulsion Technologies, E-Space,
Spaceflight, and Unseenlabs. The mission brings the
total number of satellites launched by Rocket Lab to
146. Among the payloads deployed were satellites
designed to monitor light pollution, demonstrate space
junk removal technologies, improve power restraints in
small satellites, validate technology for sustainable
satellite systems that can avoid collisions with
untrackable space objects, enable internet from space,
and build upon a maritime surveillance constellation.
Rocket Lab’s next mission is
scheduled in May 2022 with more details to be released
in the coming days.
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