Rocket Lab catches dummy rocket in midair with helicopter in ongoing quest to make its vehicles reusable

In the ongoing quest to one day reuse its rockets after launch, Rocket Lab has successfully tested out a way to catch a rocket falling out of the sky using a pair of helicopters. A few weeks ago, the company dropped a dummy rocket from one helicopter and caught the falling vehicle in midair with another helicopter, shown in a new video released by Rocket Lab today.

The air show, done “several weeks” ago, before quarantine restrictions started taking effect, was meant to demonstrate a critical part of Rocket Lab’s plan to eventually recover its vehicles. In August, the company detailed a way to essentially catch its Electron rocket when it comes back from space. According to the plan, the vehicle will fall back to Earth after launching to...

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