For the first time, Rocket Lab will also launch a pre-flown Rutherford engine, a significant milestone in the program to evolve Electron into a reusable rocket. A recovery-configured Rocket Lab ...

Rocket Lab will try helicopter recovery of rocket booster – and CEO will eat his hat. by Alan Boyle on August 6, 2019 at 6:50 pm August 8, 2019 at 12:20 am. Share 55 Tweet Share Reddit Email.

According to a press release from Rocket Lab sent after the launch, the descent and recovery went exactly as planned: Approximately two and a half minutes after lift-off, at an altitude of around ...

Startup Rocket Lab has joined SpaceX and Blue Origin in the world of rocket recovery, today bringing its Electron booster back down to Earth for the first time ever as part of its landmark ...

Rocket Lab has now completed almost 40 launches with an Electron rocket, which is a reusable small rocket. Later this year, Rocket Lab will re-fly a recovered Rutherford engine for the first time. The ...

A Rocket Lab recovery ship motored out to the splashdown zone in short order, and crewmembers successfully pulled the booster from the sea. "A successful day of rocket fishing for the recovery team.

Recovery crews on a nearby ship planned to haul the rocket aboard and bring it back to shore for a detailed inspection. "Splashdown of Electron's first stage confirmed!" Rocket Lab tweeted.

Updated 7 a.m. Eastern Nov. 20 with stage recovery. WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket Nov. 19, placing nearly 30 smallsats in orbit while making its first attempt to recover ...

Rocket Lab may abandon helicopter recoveries.In comments during a February 28 earnings call, Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said the company was weighing recovering stages from the ...

Rocket Lab has already performed one such recovery this year, during a March 24 mission that lofted two Earth-observation satellites for the Virginia-based company BlackSky.

Rocket Lab’s next Electron mission will include another marine recovery attempt of the rocket’s booster, the latest step by the company to advance its reusability program.

A recovery-configured Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle sits on the pad at Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand ahead of lift-off for Capella Space.