Watch Rocket Lab pluck its rocket booster from the sky

The helicopter caught the rocket booster as it fell from the sky. The booster was thrown into the sea after the catch.

During its There And Back Again mission, the company was able to deploy 34 satellites for a range of private companies.

The first-stage booster returned to Earth after launch, but its descent was slowed by a parachute. The grappling hook on the helicopter was captured in the video.

The pilot noticed that the helicopter's flying performance was affected by the extra weight after catching the booster. Instead of carrying the booster to the recovery vessel, the pilot decided to dump it for a successful splashdown. A team from Rocket Lab plucked it from the water.

Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab, said that the recovery team could not explain how hard the catch was.

The company will be able to cut mission costs, increase the number of launches, and reduce the amount of waste materials by catching the first stage of the rocket instead of letting it land in water. There is still a chance that parts of the rocket can be used again.

A dummy rocket booster was used to rehearse the process for Monday's catch attempt. The partial success will give the company hope that it can refine the process to make it a regular part of its activities.

Beck founded the company in 2006 and later confirmed that all of the satellites successfully deployed.

While it aims to perfect the rocket-catching process with its two-stage Electon rocket, with its next-generation Neutron rocket it is planning to land the first-stage booster upright in a similar way to SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.

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