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RocketLab have become the leading dedicated smallsat launch provider with their small Electron rocket able to launch 150kg into low earth orbit for about 5million dollars. As a private space company they’ve been getting lots of comparisons to SpaceX but until now the CEO Peter Beck had maintained that unlike SpaceX they would not be reusing rockets. On Tuesday they announced that the company had plans to develop this technology, using an entirely passive booster descent profile and capture by a Helicopter.
And they’re not the only launch provider looking seriously at recovering and reusing rocket hardware, this week China launched a Long March 2C rocket with grid fins steering the booster to its final impact point.
I’m sorry Scott but I don’t like the new intro. love the episode tho
and if you can’t fly safe, fly dangerous.
The air-catching is no problem, although they will need quite a bit of practice to get it reliable.
The reentry, with a carbon fiber body, will be *scary*!
But i think the main problem will be margins. At the scale they are working at, the percentage of mass needed for recovery hardware is much larger than with the F9 for example.
And yes, economy. Recovery is a near-fixed cost, and the value of what they are recovering is much, much less.
It may work, but i doubt it will be worthwhile.
“That’s a bold strategy Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for em.” —Pepper Brooks (color commentator for ESPN 8’s, The Ocho)
Will RocketLab make an Electron Heavy variant?
How long before we get the electron heavy? Three carbon fibre tanks bolted together
Recovering flown articles may also help them gather data to improve their rockets. For example if they discover parts are coming back broken they can focus on strengthening them
Scott Manley. Would you mind doing a video about the grid fins?
Naming the booster electron probably caused some misunderstanding with the chemists.
Well, if they can get Airwolf, they don’t really need a ship. Kick in those turbos and have the rocket back on the launch pad within the hour.
4:58 come on now, that’s a space-doobie if ever I saw one
Hey Scott! Thanks for all of your great videos! Why did it seem like the merlin vacuum engine’s nozzle was moving around(like rippling) when it was firing? Don’t remember seeing it before.
Never before has there been so much focus and demand solely for commercial space development
I have a feeling the world is gonna change in a big way akin to plastics – something subtle people hardly notice because they’re accustomed to it but have a massive impact
PLD in Spain is following the same solutions of Electron. It’s supossed to be a launch this year from south Spain of a suborbital demo (Miura 1, yes like the Lamborghini) with a 100Kg payload.
Did you really have a ship from Battlestar Galactica in the intro?
The more I see other attempts at reusable rockets, more impressive what SpaceX is able to do regularly seem. Damn Starship would be a sight to behold!
“What’s that strange noise?” my Mom just asked.
Well Mom, it’s the voice of Scott Manley.
Surely there’s a better way to harness the wind power on the way down to navigate it into a cushioned landing spot
I laughed at Elon when he said he was going to land rockets upright and reuse them.
I won’t laugh at RocketLab and be made to look a fool again.
Dude…….. The BSG opening was EPIC!
TeleDyne has a history of recovery drones with a helicopter, I watched the “Buffalo Hunters” recover FireFlies with a CH-3 chopper. so we being doing this since at least the 1960s
“Space, rocketry, stellar physics, etc., has always been cool, but then it went mainstream.’
Thanks for this video. I have never heard of “RocketLab” before.
I suppose the math only _just_ works out — what with the expense of recovery with the boats and helicopters and whatnot — when you account for the doubling of launch frequency.
Offer to Peter Beck: Either a Video of him eating his Hat, or Videos of all recovery Attemps. his choice
Kick assendicus new intro!
Reminds me of the 90s galaxy class screensaver.
Anyplace specific we can get it from?
I love how much is everybody working on reusable rockets now when spaceX showed it is possible. Awesome.
How can I not find any comments about that damn fine battlestar-esk intro 😍
Manley u have outdone itself sir
The space industry will move twords re-usability for everything whether people want it to or not. It makes a more effective and competitive business.
Helicopter recovery of a booster. Good luck with that.
Agreed he can keep his hat on his head if he commits to livestreams
Should work, they already did something similar in the 2010 remake of the A-Team
This would be great. Can’t wait to see their first effort! 👍 Love also to see Blue Origin do something new
“SSTO? ..good luck with that.” lol
Battlestar Galactica…
Loved that intro. :))
4:35 i misread this as “an electron” and was trying to imagine what could possibly cause such pressure
Fund raising idea: RocketLab parafoils and ballutes for skydiving.
I get it but powered landings make rockets a spectator sport.
Ballute is now my new favourite word.
I had no idea! Had I not heard it first from you, I’d be checking my calandar and wondering how we got to April 1st so fast! Wow!
Catch a falling rocket, put it in my pocket…
Nice father Ted reference 👏 and the rest of the video was great too of course! 👍
Helimachopters…
What is this, KSP?
“It’s close and those people are far away!”
Can someone explain briefly to me what rocketlabs vision is?
Is their final design to be landed via helicopter?
Whom is their target?
What is their goal?
Thank you, and sorry but I just couldn’t be bothered to do any research on my own right now.
ahh rocketlab, reminding me of the Genesis mission even today.
I’m with you. He doesn’t need to eat his hat, just share the damn video!
That’s hilarious I just got done watching some Battlestar Galactica.
53 non-reusable launch provider employees downvoted this. 101624ZAUG19 Haha.
Thank god you’ve changed the intro music. Good video!
The possibility of increased launch frequency is a great point Peter made. Even if the cost of recovery is roughly the same as making an entirely new booster in terms of dollars, the time saved by having another booster available for use almost immediately makes it worth the effort. If it’s done right as he says, then they may even be able to take it right back to the launch site, do a bit of cleanup, and launch again within a day or two, and even if that second launch is expended that’s a lot of time saved.
Sure, you still need a new upper stage and possibly kickstage, but if you shift production to produce more of those instead of lower stages, you can make up for it.
Thanks for the nod to Father Ted.. The people are far away lol
11:06 why did you not include the „these cows are small, these are just far away“ clip?
It’ll work out just fine. Peter Beck is an engineer and owner of Rocket Lab. If he believes it’ll work then I believe it will trustworthy as he is. And he wouldn’t hold a press conference if he didn’t believe in it 100%
Rocketlab’s helicopter looks like Airwolf
Im so glad that the space industry is now being revolutionize.
SpaceX lost a booster recently due to reentry heat damage, yet they do burns to slow the descent rate. How is rocket lab going to avoid the same problem without burning, and how is the ballute going to survive opening at supersonic speeds?
Single stage to orbit…… *pause* ….. good luck with that.
I genuinely laughed out loud at that.
If you want to see a video of this happening, check out this from Lockheed Martin and PDG Aviation Services, where they do exactly what Rocket Lab is proposing. And by “exactly” I mean “the skyhook is identical in terms of shape and coloration, and the dummy payload is Electron booster sized.” The only substantive difference is that a droge chute is used instead of the balute, to string the catch-line across. Seriously, either Rocket Lab saw this video and decided to copy it, or Rocket Lab has been working with Lockheed on this very problem (which isn’t inconceivable, Lockheed Martin invested in Rocket Lab back in 2015).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LhBG-J7PDU
Okay Dougal, one last time… This rocket is small, but the people back there are far away.
I really like how Elon Musk has forced several industries to completely change their thinking and designs.
He is being really disruptive, but as a force for good, pushing humanity forward.
@Scott Manley >>> I did a quick Giggle search and found that at least one company’s large cargo-carrying parafoil has a glide ratio of 4.5:1. Starting at 35,000 feet {as the same webpage lists}, IF my quickie math is correct that means the parafoil CAN cover 25 miles horizontally while descending.
The webpage I referenced: https://defense-update.com/20070513_onyx-pads.html
*NOTE:* I _heavily_ edited this comment after posting it. At first I just suggested that Scott {eventually use} an image of the _EAS Excalibur_ from *BABYLON 5* and its short-lived spin-off *CRUSADE* for the opening of his videos. It THEN occurred to me to add the paragraph above. I case someone _”Liked”_ this comment for the ORIGINAL VERSION, I wanted to explain the change.
*NOTE 2:* This is ONLY VERY WILD SPECULATION on my part: If _RocketLab_ could put some form of extendable propeller powered by a small reciprocating engine, it could turn the booster into _powered parafoil_ {MY personal nickname for a “powered parachute”} and extend its gliding range.
That said, I PRESUME folks at RocketLab have ALREADY considered this….
I’m pretty sure there was a Farther Ted reference in there mate
I really like your new Intro.
Nice and chill.
Please talk about the *Burble Fence*
“And here we have an SSTO…yeah good luck with that” haha
Since Rocketlab is on the high end of high power electric motors and batteries, will they use an electric helicopter?
We’re kiwis, we’ll just use number 8 wire to catch it! DUH! Hehe
Any number of Aerospace Companies: We have a SSTO currently in development.
Scott Manley: Good luck with that!
My dradis detects a new intro
Catching parachutes with helicopters seems SO dangerous.
Wish them luck but damn…
We all have to be pleased to have the opportunity to life these amazing “industrial space” moments!
Cool intro, hadn’t seen that one yet.
And of course, SpaceX coming in to steal their lunch ahh… I mean launches.
I totally could see this coming with rocketlab! making their rockets reusable will really cut down costs and make it really affordable for small sats.
“I’ll buy a little parachute
(A common parachute with wings),
I’ll fill it full of arrowroot
And other necessary things”
Who would win
200 million worth of equipments
One windy boi
thats actually quite unexpected of china to actually care about dropping stages on people
Ahh, i just love all those small jokes and awesome quotes you do – in that video alone i giggled at least 7 times, usally not even comedy channels manage that rate.
Never change, i love what you do! <3
Spanish PLD Space private company is trying to make another reusable microlauncher with slightly increased payload mass than Electron IIRC.
Rocket is called Miura 5. Market is getting interesting. Go check them out!
“…and of course SpaceX coming in to steal their lunch… I mean launches…” That’s a really good one! I suppose they steal both!
The best thing about Rocketlabs launches is counting the sheep in the paddock. Marketing opportunity for woolly earmuffs guys!
Exciting times ahead in space; the next decade is going to be wild 👌
The cool satellites always sit at the back of the fairings
8:36 – Maybe they’re planning to just fly it over to whatever ship happens to be in the area, and pay the captain to bring it back to shore?
Don’t even have lightsabers and we need to try and make things lightsaber-resistant anyways…
…Why can’t we have nice things?
Captured mid-air by Airwolf. Nice.
I’d buy a “SSTO: Good Luck With That” T-shirt. 😁
RETALT 2: Believes in itself, just following it’s dreams.
Scott Manley – being a heartless astrological egg: Yea, good luck with that.
Catch a falling rocket, put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day.
I’m wishing Rocket Labs success…. SpaceX has ushered in a new/cool space-race. Exciting times for sure. Great content as always Scott. Keep up the good work sir.
SpaceX: watch us land so many rockets with our grid fins that when we sacrifice one people cry.
China: HEY LOOK AT US! We put grid fins on our rockets too! Now we can aim for the suburbs, and crash BETWEEN the houses!
The main reason spacex do a reentry burn is to decellerate the rocket in carburising environment, _not_ only to slow it down. That is, the exhaust plume wrapped up and around the rocket during hot re-entry is low temperature and zero oxidising – speaking comparatively that is.. Look at all the soot on the spacex rocket after use and estimate that exhaust gas temperature – far lower that an oxygen fueled plasma knife..
This “Good Luck with that” at 11:56 was absolutely hilarious
I think this is a bit far-fetched, but I was skeptical of SpaceX with propulsive landings too, so we’ll just have to see what happens. Best of luck, Rocket Lab!
Instant thumbs up for the Battlestar Galactica Intro.
So say we all!
And here I thought using one’s engines as a heatshield would stay restricted to Kerbal Space Program…
The air heats up to ½ surface of the sun. So the temperature is around 3.05*10¹² km².
I love that “eat my hat” thing! So happy we have these companies being lead by people with a sense of humor!
Also, MORE RE-USABILITY! WOOOO!
I saved 15% by switching rocket providers and you can too