No, it’s not a high budget Mission Impossible action movie, but it could have been. Tom Cruise wasn’t piloting a helicopter that grabbed a rocket falling back to the Earth. Instead, a crew wearing black Rocket Lab t-shirts with the words “recovery team” written on the back took the skies in helicopters to grab a falling rocket. Since it wasn’t Tom Cruise, the video of the team grabbing a rocket midflight ranked higher on the awesome scale.
Daring capture of Booster
A few weeks ago, Rocket Lab took a major step forward to recover boosters. In a recent release to media, Rocket Lab shared videos successfully grabbing a parachute & test booster out of the sky using a helicopter. On the first try, the helicopter grabbed the first stage test article with a grappling hook.
There are intrinsic risks with helicopters. Recently SpaceX lost a test article when it became necessary to prematurely drop a Crew Dragon test article. However, Rocket Lab did better in the Electron parachute tests. The success marks another step closer for the company in recovering the boosters it uses to launch small payloads into low earth orbit.
The test was conducted in early March in the waters off of New Zealand. Helicopters carried a replica Electron first stage aloft and released it. The test article deployed a parachute and, at an altitude of about 1,500 meters, a second helicopter equipped with a grappling hook snagged the parachute. The helicopter then carried the stage back to the landing zone.
Rocket Lab, like SpaceX, plans on recovering their first stage. Unlike SpaceX, Rocket Lab will use parachutes to slow the booster. SpaceX does have a major head start on companies, including Rocket Lab. In August 2019, Rocket Lab made public details about the Electron first stage recovery.
After stage separation in space, the booster would reenter the atmosphere. A sharp deceleration through the atmosphere would end in the deployment of a parachute. A helicopter maneuvered into position would capture the stage before reaching the ocean. The helicopter would gently place the booster down for refurbishment and reuse. SpaceX instead lands the rocket vertically. SpaceX has also used parachutes for recovering fairings with mixed results. NASA also used parachutes to recover the SRBs of the Space Shuttle but did not attempt to catch with a helicopter.
Rocket Lab Getting Close
Rocket Lab has not done a complete test of the proposed system. Two controlled re-entries validated the ability of the Electron first stage to survive a controlled re-entry. Electron stages successfully re-entered after the launches in December 2019 and January 2020. That included one launch where the stage survived reentry and remained intact until it hit the ocean, having decelerated from more than 7,000 to less than 900 kilometers per hour.
On the next flight of the Electron, an upgraded rocket with a full recovery system will be launched. After reentering and slowing down, the parachute will deploy at an altitude of about 6,000 meters. The rocket will slowly glide into the ocean. The plan includes fishing the spent first stage from the ocean. To determine the effectiveness of entry, Rocket Lab plans inspections of the recovered rocket inspection after collection.
Rocket Lab also makes progress with NASA
Rocket Lab announced recently the Category 1 Certification by NASA for the Electron launch vehicle. In December 2018, Rocket Lab launched the NASA ELaNa-19 mission and delivered 13 NASA CubeSats to orbit. The certification milestone achieved largely through the successful launch of that prior mission performance.
The NASA Category 2 Certification would allow for even higher valued missions awarded by NASA. Level 2 certification requires at least six consecutive successful missions of the same configuration. Since Rocket Lab successfully launched the Electron 10 consecutive orbital missions, Rocket Lab will likely obtain this certification. Rocket Lab’s launches include deploying payloads for commercial and government customers including DARPA, the U.S. Air Force, and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). New companies entering the NASA supplier pool will help lower costs for the agency, freeing up funds for other activities such as moon exploration.
Sustainability key for Rocket Future
Getting rockets back to Earth in one piece requires discipline and hard work. Rocket Lab’s future likely depends on recovering rockets. There are a number of new companies entering the SmallSat launcher industry. Numerous companies from around the world plan on new small launch vehicles. In the USA Firefly Aerospace testing photos reveal a growing maturity of the design.
In China, India, and Australia other new-space starts up companies rolled out new designs with reusability in mind. The Chinese Company Galactic Energy announced the goal of hitting 3,000 USD per kilogram with their future rockets. Right now Rocket Lab advertises about 5.7 Million USD for a launch which translates into 25,000 USD/kg.
SpaceX announced very competitive pricing on ride shares for certain missions. The attempt is to fill up additional capacity on the rocket that would otherwise be wasted. A downside to rideshares, you need to fly when they fly. Rocket Lab is competitive when customers need extra flexibility for launches not offered by rideshares from bigger rocket companies.
About The Author
Bill D’Zio
Co-Founder at WestEastSpace.com
Bill founded WestEastSpace.com after returning to China in 2019 to be supportive of his wife’s career. Moving to China meant leaving the US rocket/launch industry behind, as the USA and China don’t see eye to eye on cooperation in space. Bill has an engineering degree and is an experienced leader of international cross-functional teams with experience in evaluating, optimizing and awarding sub-contracts for complex systems. Bill has worked with ASME Components, Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) for use in launch vehicles, satellites, aerospace nuclear, and industrial applications.
Bill provides consulting services for engineering, supply chain, and project management.
