In awesome mission ‘Catch Me If You Can’, helicopter to capture electron rocket mid-air

The year 2022 has been the year of milestones in space tech. First, the NASA James Webb Space Telescope became operational and began sending us images of the universe from unimaginable distances. Scientists have been able to glimpse at the farthest galaxy, oldest star cluster and more. Then, in August, NASA sent a spacecraft to crash into the asteroid Dimorphos to test its planetary defense capabilities. This also became the first time in history when a man made object moved a celestial body. And now, US aerospace company Rocket Lab is set to make a milestone of its own by catching an electron rocket mid-air with a helicopter. Interestingly, the company has dubbed the mission as ‘Catch Me If You Can’.

In May, Rocket Lab attempted the first ever recovery of an Electron first stage in a mission called ‘There and back again’. This time the mission is taking things one step further and bringing back a dry stage. “Our first helicopter catch only a few months ago proved we can do what we set out to do with Electron, and we’re eager to get the helicopter back out there and advance our rocket reusability even further by bringing back a dry stage for the first time,” said Peter Beck, CEO and founder, Rocket Lab.

Rocket Lab to catch an Electron rocket with a helicopter

This will be Rocket Lab’s 32nd Electron launch. For the unaware, Electron is a two-stage, partially recoverable orbital launch vehicle which was developed to service the commercial small satellite launch market.

In the company’s first-of-a-kind mission, the modified Sikorsky S-92 helicopter will be used. It will be deployed to the capture zone, 160 nautical miles off Banks Peninsula in New Zealand. But what exactly will it capture? It will capture the first stage of the rocket as it returns from space after pushing the carrying satellites outside the upper atmosphere. The second stage will continue its journey and place the Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy (MATS) payload, a science research satellite, in its destination orbit.

As the stage one returns to the Earth, it will touch a speed of 8,300 kilometers per hour. But seven minutes into the launch, the first parachute of the rocket will deploy, bringing that speed to a manageable 36 kilometers per hour. This is when the helicopter will match the speed of the rocket, appear above it and hook it with its parachute liners.