Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Rocket Lab: Helicopter catches returning booster over the Pacific
The first stage booster of a rocket is used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from the initial launch through the first ascent. Once its propellants are expended, it falls back towards Earth. Most of the boosters are uncontrollable and burn until exhaustion by the heat generated during the fall. Those single-use boosters are expensive and make the launch costs high. Only one rocket launch company reuses the booster to reduce cost. Space-X’s Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket whose first stage has already been reused multiple times. After stage separation, the booster flips around, an optional boost back burn is done to reverse its course, a reentry burn, controlling direction to arrive at the landing site, and a landing burn to affect the final low-altitude deceleration and touchdown. This complicated process is done autonomously. Now, another way to reuse the first booster had been engineered and recently tested, which uses a parachute to reduce the falling speed to be caught by a helicopter. This mid-air catch test was conducted over the Pacific Ocean after a mission to orbit 34 satellites. Which way will become popular, the autonomous landing system or the human-controlled helicopter catch? Whichever the case might be, the cost to launch a satellite is going to become cheaper and the space is going to be even more congested.
Enjoy reading the article and learning about this mid-air rocket booster catch by a helicopter.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61307512
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