Tomorrow Rocket Lab Will Attempt To Catch Electron Booster
Earlier this year many of us watched as Rocket Lab attempted their first ever booster catch attempt during an actual mission. This ambitious goal is hoping to lower some costs and increase the company’s launch cadence by refurbishing boosters rather than creating new ones. Besides a hint on the next catch attempt a few months ago, Rocket Lab hadn’t released any information on when we should expect to see another catch.
That was until just two days ago when the company revealed that tomorrow on the 4th, they will be launching Electron and once again trying to catch the booster. Specifically, launching from Pad B at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, the “Catch Me If You Can” mission will be Rocket Lab’s 32nd Electron launch overall and second reusability mission of 2022.
During the last reusability mission, the booster was caught but the pilot reported irregular load characteristics than previous attempts. For this reason, the decision was made to drop the booster safely in the ocean, something Rocket Lab is hoping to avoid this time around. Here I will go more in-depth into tomorrow’s mission, why it’s important, what to expect, and more.
Tomorrow’s Catch Attempt
The most recent and first booster catch attempt was earlier this year in May. While not 100% successful Rocket Lab came close and learned a lot of valuable information. Thankfully, only two days ago on the 1st Rocket Lab tweeted saying, “We’re bringing back the helicopter. Catch Me If You Can – our next recovery mission to catch Electron in the sky with a helicopter – is set to launch in just three days’ time.” Specifically, tomorrow on the 4th, Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket will lift off and the company will try to catch the booster as it falls using a helicopter.
Launching from Pad B at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, the “Catch Me If You Can” mission will be Rocket Lab’s 32nd Electron launch overall and second reusability mission of 2022. In an effort to increase launch opportunities and reduce manufacturing costs, Rocket Lab is evolving Electron into the world’s first and only reusable and operational small rocket. Using a modified Sikorsky S-92 large helicopter, Rocket Lab will attempt to capture the Electron rocket’s first stage mid-air as it returns from space after launch. The Electron booster will release a parachute to slow down its descent over the ocean, before the helicopter attempts to catch and secure it by the parachute line. From there, the stage will be transported back to Rocket Lab’s production complex in New Zealand where it will be assessed for possible re-flight.
To get a better idea of what exactly we can expect during tomorrow’s mission, we can take a closer look at the mission profile. Starting shortly before lift-off, the customized Sikorsky S-92 recovery helicopter will deploy to the capture zone at sea, approximately 160 nautical miles off New Zealand’s Banks Peninsula. Once launched, Electron’s first and second stages will separate at approximately T+2:32 minutes into the mission. The MATS payload will continue to orbit onboard the rocket’s second stage while Electron’s first stage descends back to Earth. At this point in the mission, Electron’s return is expected to reach speeds of up to 8,300km (5,150 miles) per hour and temperatures of up to 2,400 degrees C (4,352 F).
At approximately T+7:20 minutes after lift-off, Electron’s first parachute will deploy followed shortly after by the rocket’s main parachute. The double deployment of parachutes helps to slow the returning first stage to 0.4% of its top speed during descent: from 8,300km per hour to just 36km per hour. As Electron enters the capture zone, Rocket Lab’s recovery helicopter will match the rocket’s speed and descent from above, attempting to secure the trailing parachute engagement line to the helicopter via a hook at the end of a long line. Once captured and secured, Electron will be transported back to land and to Rocket Lab’s Auckland Production Complex. There, technicians will receive and prepare the stage for inspection to assess its suitability for re-use. If everything goes according to plan, this is exactly what we can expect to see during tomorrow’s mission.
Rocket Lab Reusability
Now that we know more about the upcoming mission and what to expect, we can take a closer look at the customized helicopter responsible for the catch, and how Rocket Lab has prepared for this second attempt. The Sikorsky S-92 is an American-made twin-engine helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft in Connecticut. Primarily used in the oil and gas industry for personnel transport, the Sikorsky S-92 has accumulated more than two million flight hours across its global fleet. The Sikorsky S-92 has also completed more than 91,000 search and rescue missions, as well as coastal and border control, emergency response, disaster relief, and Head of State and airline missions – and now, Electron rocket catching over the South Pacific Ocean.
Rocket Lab highlights that the helicopter flies with a crew of three: a pilot, a co-pilot, and a rocket spotter. Capable of lifting up to 5,000 kg, the Sikorsky S-92 was the logical helicopter choice to be able to catch and hold the 1,000 kg Electron rocket booster on its way back down to Earth. In order to complete its rocket-catching mission, the Sikorsky S-92 has also been modified to include extended range fuel tanks for open ocean flights; a capture hook on a long-line to catch the parachute line attached to Electron’s booster; additional cargo; pilot assists for recovery operations, including a bubble window to better see the returning rocket and displays with position and direction information for the intercept; and other minor modifications.
This mission is meant to apply everything learned from the first attempt earlier in the year. In that first mission, after the catch, the helicopter pilot detected different load characteristics than previously experienced in testing and offloaded the stage for a successful splashdown. Recently, Rocket Lab CEO and founder, Peter Beck, said, “Our first helicopter catch only a few months ago proved we can do what we set out to do with Electron, and we’re eager to get the helicopter back out there and advance our rocket reusability even further by bringing back a dry stage for the first time.”
While for the most part we have only seen and heard about these booster catches in the last few months, in reality, Rocket Lab has been working toward Electron partial reusability for quite a while now. For example, the Return to Sender and Running Out of Toes Missions occurred in November 2020 and May 2021. Across two commercial missions – Return To Sender and Running Out Of Toes – Rocket Lab packed the parachute on Electron and monitored its descent all the way to the ocean after launch. Guiding the Electron booster’s return with parachutes for controlled water landings allowed their team to retrieve them from the ocean – without parachutes, there would be nothing to collect. Twice in six months, their recovery ship returned Electron boosters from the ocean and back to their production complex, where engineers studied their condition and how they fared in preparation for bringing one back by helicopter instead.
Even more recently, Rocket Lab proved its Rutherford engines are up to the task when they successfully fired up a reused engine from the There And Back Again recovery mission in 2022. The refurbished engine passed all of the same rigorous acceptance tests they perform for every launch engine, including 200 seconds of engine fire and multiple restarts. Data shows the engine produced full thrust of 21 kilonewtons within 1000 milliseconds of ignition and performed to the same standard of a newly-built Rutherford engine. They highlight that being able to refly Electron without too much rework is the aim of the game. They finished by saying “if we can achieve high level performance with engine parts recovered from the ocean, imagine what we can do with returned dry engines.
In addition, yesterday Rocket Lab tweeted mentioning, “Payload integration complete with OHB Sweden & @RymdstyrelsenSE for MATS! This Swedish national science mission is launching on Electron’s recovery mission Nov 04 UTC”. Specifically, Electron will carry a science research satellite by space systems provider OHB Sweden for the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). The Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy (MATS) satellite is the basis for the SNSA’s science mission to investigate atmospheric waves and better understand how the upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere interacts with wind and weather patterns closer to the ground. MATS was originally due to fly on a Russian launch service before the mission was manifested on Rocket Lab’s Electron. Going into this mission, Rocket Lab is very confident with everything learned from the previous catch attempt. Based on the fact that they were able to catch the booster almost perfectly the first time, it’s very possible that tomorrow we see the first 100% successful booster retrieval.
Conclusion
Rocket Lab has been staying very busy as they work on multiple large and ambitious projects of the future. One is the continued work on Electron and the process of catching its booster out of mid air. A process we may see more of going forward depending on the results of tomorrow’s mission. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.