Recycled rockets

Startup Rocket Lab is pressing ahead with its ambitions to turn its Electron booster into a reusable orbital launch vehicle for small satellites, with plans this weekend to recover the rocket's first stage that will have an upgraded heat shield.

Rocket Lab has made a name for itself in short space of time by focusing on highly frequent launches of small satellites, but now the space startup believes it has bigger fish to fry, introducing a larger rocket named Neutron.

Controlled landings of its Falcon 9 boosters have become almost de rigueur for SpaceX, but Elon Musk has revealed different plans for the Falcon 9's bigger sibling, the Super Heavy booster – catching it using the launch tower arm.

Rocket Lab is set to take an important step forward in its mission to reuse parts of its Electron booster, announcing that it will make its first attempt to recover the rocket’s first stage during a mission scheduled for later this month.

Rocket Lab is looking to join the rocket recycling party by collecting the first stage of its Electron launch vehicle in midair using a helicopter, a method that it has now successfully demonstrated over the open ocean in New Zealand.

SpaceX singlehandedly changed the game when it comes to rocket recycling, but it might soon have some company with competitor Rocket Lab today announcing a reusability program of its own.​

​​Historically, space launches are anything but cheap, but reusable rocket programs like those from SpaceX and Blue Origin promise to significantly reduce costs (if they’re not already). In a similar vein, the EU is looking to develop a "rocket catcher" that snaffles boosters in mid-air for reuse.