A helicopter hovers as it attempts to capture the Electron rocket's first stage in mid-air above New Zealand, Tues., May 3, 2022. (Rocket Lab/The Associated Press) After lifting off to send 34 satellites toward orbit at 10:50 a.m. Tuesday (6:50 p.m. ET Monday) in New Zealand, the company's four-story-tall Electron booster stage fell back through Earth's atmosphere and deployed a series of parachutes to brake its speed. At high altitudes above the South Pacific, just off the New Zealand coast, a helicopter hanging a long, vertical cable from its underside was steered by two pilots over the booster, which had stretched to its side a capture line as it descended under a parachute at roughly 35 kilometres per hour. 
In this image supplied by Rocket Lab, the Electron rocket blasts off for its "There And Back Again" mission from their launch pad on the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, on Tuesday. (Rocket Lab/The Associated Press) The helicopter cable latched onto the booster's capture line, as seen on the company's live stream, prompting cheers and applause from Rocket Lab engineers in the company's mission control centre in Long Beach. But the cheers from engineers turned to audible groans as the helicopter pilots were forced to release the rocket from the cable and dunk it into the Pacific Ocean after noticing "different load characteristics" than what had been experienced during previous capture tests, a Rocket Lab spokesperson later confirmed. A fully successful test would have involved carrying the rocket booster back to land or onto a barge without having it touch ocean water. Incredible catch by the recovery team, can’t begin to explain how hard that catch was and that the pilots got it. They did release it after hook up as they were not happy with the way it was flying, but no big deal, the rocket splashed down safely and the ship is loading it now.—@Peter_J_Beck "No big deal," Rocket Lab Chief Executive Peter Beck wrote on Twitter. "The rocket splashed down safely and the ship is loading it now." It was not immediately clear whether Rocket Lab planned to reuse the booster.
