Rocket Lab will try to catch its first stage of the rocket with a helicopter
(Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab announced that during the next mission of the Electron rocket, which is scheduled for the second half of April, it will first try to catch the first stage using a helicopter.
During the fall, the stage will release a parachute, which will reduce its speed, catch it right in flight and deliver it to the shore, bypassing the splashdown into the ocean.
In the future, specialists will study the stage to determine whether it can be restarted.
At the moment, almost all launch vehicles are disposable, that is, all their components are destroyed after launch or remain in orbit.
Only the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have a partially reusable design: their first stage lands on jet engines, and the head fairings splash down on parachutes.
After returning from space, they can be reused, which can significantly reduce the cost of launches.
NASA also had a previously tested reusable space system in practice: the Space Shuttle reused a spaceplane landing on the runway and side boosters splashed down by parachutes.
Rocket Lab originally developed the Electron lightweight rocket as a disposable rocket, but announced in 2019 that it plans to modify its first stage for reuse.
To do this, it will use a parachute, but with a difference from the approach used in the Space Shuttle and Falcon: after descent by parachute, the stage will be caught by a helicopter.
The company has already partially tested this method by catching a mass-dimensional mock-up with a helicopter, as well as splashing into the ocean three real first stages after launches.
On April 19, Rocket Lab will try to fully test this approach for the first time during another mission to launch 34 satellites from several companies.
An hour before launch, a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter will fly into the stage descent zone, located about 280 kilometers from the coast of New Zealand, from where the rocket will take off.
Two and a half minutes after launch, the first stage will separate, and the second will continue to put satellites into orbit.
During the descent, the first stage will warm up to 2400 degrees Celsius due to the entry into the dense layers of the atmosphere.
At an altitude of 13 kilometers, the brake parachute will open, and at 6 kilometers, the stage will release the main parachute, which will reduce its speed to 10 meters per second.
After that, a helicopter will fly up to her and try to hook the parachute with a cable. If this stage is successful, the helicopter will deliver the stage back to the coast.
After the mission, engineers will analyze the condition of the components of the captured stage to see if it is suitable for re-launch.
It is known that, based on the results of three launches with a splashdown of the stage into the ocean, engineers made changes to the design of the rocket that increase its resistance to the conditions
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