The problem was related to a “loss of telemetry” from the Electron rocket’s first stage during re-entry, the company said Friday in a tweet. The booster was launched into the Pacific Ocean and a recovery vessel will collect it, Rocket Lab said. “Unfortunately it looks like we’re not going to get the Electron home dry today,” Rocket Lab spokeswoman Murielle Baker said during a live webcast of the effort. Launched at 1:27 p.m. east of Rocket Lab’s site in New Zealand, the mission successfully deployed a scientific research satellite for the Swedish National Space Agency. Rocket Lab has been trying to catch declining boost rockets before they launch into the ocean in an effort to make the rockets reusable, potentially reducing cost and time between launches. On a previous mission, Rocket Lab caught one of the Electron rocket’s boosters with a helicopter after it returned from space, but the pilot chose to drop the rocket into the ocean immediately after the capture for technical reasons. Rocket Lab shares were up 1.6% at 2:31 p.m. in New York. ©2022 Bloomberg LP
