New Zealand spaceflight firm Rocket Lab is planning to catch the first-stage of one among its Electron rockets because it falls again to Earth shortly after launch on Friday.

It’s solely the second time it’s tried the feat, which entails a helicopter, a robust cable, and a grappling hook. Oh, and one very skillful pilot.

Once secured, the booster will likely be flown again to base, refurbished, and used for an additional flight, enabling launch prices to be dramatically decreased.

Rival spaceflight firm SpaceX has been reusing its first-stage Falcon 9 boosters for years, however as an alternative of catching them, it lands them upright on the bottom or on a barge stationed within the ocean.

Rocket Lab launched an animation this week exhibiting exactly the way it plans to catch the booster:

Catch Me If You Can? Challenge accepted. In two days' time, right here's how we'll try to catch Electron with a helicopter because the rocket returns from area.

More mission information: https://t.co/Uc9nTRitaa pic.twitter.com/XgPRl5x7r2

— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) November 2, 2022

Rocket Lab’s first try at this difficult process came about six months in the past, and though the helicopter managed to seize maintain of the booster because it floated again to Earth with assistance from a parachute, it was rapidly launched because the the booster’s weight and motion started to have an effect on the plane’s flight efficiency.

Friday’s mission, aptly known as Catch Me If You Can, is scheduled t0 launch from Rocket Lab’s facility in New Zealand at 1:15 p.m. ET on Friday, November 4 (Saturday at 6:15 a.m. native time).

Rocket Lab often livestreams the beginning of its missions, although it’s not clear if it’ll embrace a reside feed of the try to catch the booster shortly after launch. Last time it launched the helicopter footage later within the day.

While many folks will likely be primarily fascinated by seeing if the helicopter can hold maintain of the booster and produce it again to base, the mission additionally has some critical work to finish, particularly, the deployment into orbit of a science analysis satellite tv for pc for the Swedish National Space Agency.

If you’re fascinated by watching Rocket Lab’s livestream on Friday, then take a look at its YouTube channel shortly earlier than launch.

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