Rocket Labhas successfully grab a rocket engine coming down from space with a eggbeater . The telling exploit is a new fashion to check that that rocket do n’t end up in the sea , on the basis , or simply burning up in the atmosphere .
The launch was delayedby a few daysand the rocket eventually took off from New Zealand ’s Mahia Peninsula at 18:49 ET on May 2 . To punctuate the company ’s connecter to the Southern Hemisphere country , the mission was bring up “ There and Back Again ” in homage toThe Hobbit . The world imagined by Tolkien has now become synonymous with New Zealand thanks to Peter Jackson ’s picture show .
The rocket flew to orbit and render 34 satellites , before a reaction control scheme placed it at the ideal slant to do back down without burning . The champion arugula free a drogue parachute to stabilize the stemma before a large parachute was released to slow the Eruca vesicaria sativa down .
Rocket Lab ’s Sikorsky S-92 chopper then get in touch with the rocket salad at about 2 klick ( 6,500 foot ) of altitude and a lure grab the logical argument of the chute . Once there , the original saw load characteristic that were dissimilar from the test and moved the rocket so that a successful splashdown could be performed . The booster is on its room to the company product complex for examination , hoping that it will be quick to launch as expected .
“ Bringing a rocket back from space and catching it with a helicopter is something of a supersonic ballet , ” said Rocket Lab father and CEO , Peter Beck in astatement . “ A tremendous telephone number of factors have to align and many systems have to exploit together cleanly , so I am fabulously proud of the leading exploit of our Recovery Team and all of our engineers who made this mission and our first arrest a succeeder . From here we ’ll assess the stagecoach and determine what variety we might require to make to the scheme and procedures for the next eggbeater collar and eventual re - flight . ”
Rocket Lab has another launching plan later this calendar month , but there is currently no information on whether another chopper capture will be performed then .
