May 2, 2022, 07:10pm.
A helicopter was used by Rocket Lab to grab a used rocket booster in midair during a launch on Monday.
The rocket booster was pulled from the air by a hook.
The rocket lab's electron craft took off. Satellites from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula are used to gather light pollution data, monitor radio signals from sea vessels and test space junk removal technology.
The Electron's stage-one booster detached and fell back to Earth, slowing its descent with a parachute.
The booster was caught about 150 nautical miles off the New Zealand coast. The booster was dropped from one helicopter and then caught by another helicopter, a maneuver that Rocket Lab had practiced.
The booster will be taken to the production complex in New Zealand for analysis.
The goal of the midair recovery project is to make Electron the first re-usable small satellite launch vehicle. While the booster is still in the air, it can be avoided into the ocean by catching it while it is still in the air. The company said that this will allow them to make more launches. The company said that the Electron has put 146 satellites into space over the course of a year. The launch included a solar satellite by New Zealand and satellites by the U.S. startup E-Space. The tiny satellites included in the launch weighed less than 2.2 pounds.
The company plans to build the Neutron at its Wallops Island, Virginia, facility. The first Neutron is expected to launch in 2024.
There and Back Again is an allusion to J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 fantasy novel. New Zealand was the main shooting location for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films.
They're launching this year to clean up space junk.
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