Rocket Lab announced it had successfully tested its ability to catch a falling Electron rocket stage in midair, a key step in the company's efforts to recover and reuse the stage. In a test performed in early March in New Zealand, one helicopter carried a replica Electron first stage aloft and released it. The stage deployed a parachute and, at an altitude of about 1,500 meters, a second helicopter equipped with a grappling hook snagged the parachute. The helicopter then carried the stage back to land.
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