The pad has yet to be formally opened, but Beck says: "It looks just like a pad. However, a second pad has been constructed in New Zealand that Beck described as "a really big enabler" due to the increase in launch cadence it could afford the company. It has another pad in the US, at Wallops Island, but is awaiting approval from NASA for its autonomous flight termination system before Electrons can start launching. The launch will be from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Not that the Electron is particularly expensive when compared to the considerably larger alternatives but, as Beck says, "If you can get that first stage back, then you're recovering basically 80 per cent of the cost of the vehicle." Probably a bit more, once one considers the bill of materials and labour involved in building the launcher. If things go to plan, the helicopter will attempt to snag the descending booster on the next recovery mission before all that expensive hardware encounters the water.
"The hard part is from launch through to under the parachute managing all that trajectory, getting it where it should be and getting the helicopter at the right time where it should be at the right altitude."
"The hardest part is not actually hooking it," remarks Beck with the confidence of someone who is not going to be flying the helicopter. This time, however, everything will be done except an attempt to catch the rocket. Unlike SpaceX's crowd-pleasing propulsive antics, the first stage of the Rocket Lab Electron will descend by parachute and attempt a controlled splashdown into the ocean, making it the third ocean recovery (if all goes well.) The eventual plan is for a helicopter to snag the stage as it descends. Also featuring on the launch is Rocket Lab's latest evolution of its recovery technology. The launch, dubbed "Love at First Insight", is currently scheduled for no earlier than 16 November (owing to an "out of family ground sensor reading" when the launch window opened yesterday morning) and has the primary objective of popping a pair of Earth-observation satellites into orbit for Black Sky. The Register caught up with CEO Peter Beck to discuss helicopters, Mars and visiting Venus. Interview New Zealand's Rocket Lab is set to launch another Electron rocket - a precursor to the rocketeer's first attempt at catching a descending booster.
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