Following the trend initiated Elon Muskfamous CEO gives SpaceX and possible future owner twittera Rocket Laba spacecraft launch company in New Zealand, was a pioneer in helicopter-assisted capture of rocket parts while still in the air – with a mission known as “Roundtrip” (“There and Back Again”, loosely translated). Even though the original goal was to return the object to the ground with the help of an airplane and a parachute, it had to be released by sea, which meant a partial success and, of course, a positive result.

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It is an attempt to cut costs by reusing complex and expensive technologies. OUR electronic rocket was released on the morning of the last Tuesday (3), during the New Zealand. Thirty-four satellites were delivered to Earth orbit during the second stage of the launch. The first stage returned to the ground, held by a parachute. At this stage, the helicopter began to perform its function and swing a cable with a hook under the aircraft in order to be able to attach itself to a parachute attached to the propeller.

check A few pictures capturing this moment:

As explained at the beginning of the article, despite the successful result, the load exceeded the safety limits and they had to abandon – then the first stage fell into the ocean, and then was raised by a boat ready for the task. However, the result may not have been ideal, according to peter Beck, Founder Rocket Lab:

“Bringing a rocket from space and catching it with a helicopter is a kind of supersonic ballet. A huge number of factors must come together and many systems must work together flawlessly, so I am incredibly proud of the stellar efforts of our recovery team and all of our engineers who successfully completed this mission and our first capture.”

The potential of these evolutions is immeasurable. In the not-too-distant future, this could make the difference in whether more complex space missions, which are currently highly inaccessible due to high cost, will be feasible. It’s you? What do you think? Leave your opinion in the comments box and on our social networks!

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Source: g1.globo.com, cnnbrasil.com.br, Extremetech.com, Rocketlabusa.com