Rocket Lab Will Attempt To Catch Electron’s Booster On The Next Mission
As time has gone on, we have seen a significant shift throughout the space industry. Many different companies are working towards either partial or full reusability. This provides a long list of benefits including saving money, time, and much more. Rocket Lab has been planning to catch Electron’s booster for a long time now and are going to try very soon.
Specifically, Rocket Lab just announced that on the next Electron launch, they will attempt to catch the Electron booster out of mid-air for the first time ever. The company has successfully caught the booster many times. but never during an actual launch. This will be a part of the upcoming rideshare mission expected to happen in the middle of April.
For practically all of Electron’s launches up until now, Rocket Lab has recovered the booster from the ocean. This has its obvious downsides and is not ideal for the company. However, in only a few weeks the company will attempt a very important milestone. Here I will go more in-depth into the upcoming launch, catch attempt, and the Rocket Lab Electron booster recovery method.
Recent Update
Rocket Lab working towards partial reusability of Electron has been in the works for a very long time now. However, the company has been hesitant to attempt it during an actual launch. This is expected to change in only a few weeks based on recent updates provided by the company. Just yesterday Rocket Lab first tweeted saying, “While we’ve conducted ocean recoveries during previous missions, and carried out helicopter captures using replica stages, this is the first time we’re attempting to catch Electron with a helicopter during a real launch! It’s all part of making Electron a reusable rocket.” This was followed by a tweet soon after mentioning, “This helicopter? We’re going to use it to pluck Electron’s first stage from the sky as it returns to Earth under a parachute during our next mission, a commercial rideshare launch scheduled for lift-off in the second half of April.” This tweet was accompanied by a photo of a large helicopter which is expected to pluch Electron from the skys during the next mission. Lastly, only hours ago, the company provided one last update saying, “For the first time, we’ll be attempting to snatch Electron’s first stage from the air with a helicopter on our next mission. As early as April 19th, we’re going #ThereAndBackAgain in the pursuit of a reusable rocket.” It’s very clear that Rocket Lab is not only excited about the upcoming attempt, but confident in its ability to successfully catch and save the booster before it hits the water.
Launching from Pad A at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, the “There And Back Again” mission will be Rocket Lab’s 26th Electron launch. This mission will see Electron deploy 34 satellites to a sun synchronous orbit for a variety of customers including Alba Orbital, Astrix Astronautics, Aurora Propulsion Technologies, E-Space, and Unseenlabs, and bring the total number of satellites launched by Electron to 146. Most excitingly, this mission is also a recovery mission where, for the first time, Rocket Lab will attempt a mid-air capture of Electron’s first stage as it returns from space using parachutes and a helicopter. Similar to previous recovery missions, Electron’s first stage will undertake a series of complex maneuvers designed to enable it to survive the extreme heat and forces of atmospheric re-entry. Electron will be equipped with a heat shield to help protect the stage’s nine Rutherford engines and a parachute to slow Electron down in order for Rocket Lab’s customized Sikorsky S-92 helicopter to catch the stage as it returns. Unlike previous recovery missions, this time it’s attempting to avoid an ocean splashdown as the helicopter will return to the stage back to land after the catch. Upon success of this recovery, Electron will be one step closer to being the first reusable orbital small sat launcher. This is a highly complex operation that demands extreme precision. Specifically, several critical milestones must align perfectly to ensure a successful capture.
Looking at the recovery mission profile, we can get a better idea of exactly what’s expected to happen during this upcoming launch. Approximately an hour prior to lift-off, Rocket Lab’s Sikorsky S-92 will move into position in the capture zone, approximately 150 nautical miles off New Zealand’s coast, to await launch. At T+2:30 minutes after lift-off, Electron’s first and second stages will separate per a standard mission profile. Electron’s second stage will continue on to orbit for payload deployment and Electron’s first stage will begin its descent back to Earth reaching speeds of almost 8,300 km (5,150 miles) per hour. The stage will reach temperatures of around 2,400 degrees Celsius (4,352 Fahrenheit) during its descent. After deploying a drogue parachute at 13 km (8.3 miles) altitude, the main parachute will be extracted at around 6 km (3.7 miles) altitude to dramatically slow the stage to 10 meters per second, or 36 km (22.3 miles) per hour. As the stage enters the capture zone, Rocket Lab’s helicopter will attempt to rendezvous with the returning stage and capture the parachute line via a hook. Once the stage is captured and secured, the helicopter will transport it back to land where Rocket Lab will conduct a thorough analysis of the stage and assess its suitability for reflight. This is a very unique and complex process but for a long time now Rocket Lab has practiced it successfully.
“We’re excited to enter this next phase of the Electron recovery program,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “We’ve conducted many successful helicopter captures with replica stages, carried out extensive parachute tests, and successfully recovered Electron’s first stage from the ocean during our 16th, 20th, and 22nd missions. Now it’s time to put it all together for the first time and pluck Electron from the skies. Trying to catch a rocket as it falls back to Earth is no easy feat, we’re absolutely threading the needle here, but pushing the limits with such complex operations is in our DNA. We expect to learn a tremendous amount from the mission as we work toward the ultimate goal of making Electron the first reusable orbital small sat launcher and providing our customers with even more launch availability.” Rocket Lab has previously conducted three successful ocean recovery missions where Electron returned to Earth under parachute and was recovered from the ocean. Analysis of those missions informed design modifications to Electron, enabling it to withstand the hard re-entry environment, and also helped to develop procedures for an eventual helicopter capture.
If Rocket Lab is successful in catching Electron’s booster during this mission, it will mark a massive milestone not only for the company but also the space industry. With more and more companies working towards either partial or full reusability, it’s obvious the many different benefits it provides. Depending on the success of this launch, we can expect to see Rocket Lab consistently trying to catch Electron’s booster from the air on practically all future launches. There are two main benefits that catching the booster provides to Rocket Lab. The first and most obvious is cost. As you can imagine landing a rocket booster in the water will damage it quite a bit. However, Rocket Lab has been retrieving boosters from the water for quite a while now in many different missions. Specifically, during the Return To Sender mission, the booster landed in the water, and Rocket Lab recovered it. They even pointed out that “For now, our team has determined that Stage 1 came back in such good condition that we will re-qualify and re-fly some components.” This is important to point out because it highlights that practically the best case scenario only allowed Rocket Lab to re-qualify and re-fly “some components.” If the booster is caught, Rocket Lab will have access to an almost perfect condition booster. It will need some refurbishment from the violent flight process but many aspects will be salvageable. This will save the company a lot of money each launch. Not only this, but catching the booster will save Rocket Lab a lot of time. Rather than create new components and an entire booster, the caught rocket stage will be ready to provide them with exactly what they need for the next mission.
Conclusion
Over the past few years especially, we are seeing many different companies work towards either partial or full reusability. Rocket Lab for a long time now has been working towards catching Electron’s booster out of mid-air after a launch. This would save the company a lot of time and money in the long run. Recently the company announced that on the next Electron mission only weeks away, they will attempt to catch Electron’s booster for the first time ever on an actual launch. We will have to wait and see how the attempt goes and the impact it has on the space industry.