Thread by @thesheetztweetz

Rocket Lab is hosting a press conference with CEO Peter Beck to discuss the company's most recent Electron booster recovery and its progress on reusing rockets:

Thread: $RKLB

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: "The point of this flight was to test a few different technologies, but we also introduced helicopters for the first time."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: The next recovery flight will be one where we catch the Electron booster with the helicopter. $RKLB

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: "Usually we see a fair bit of beating up on the heat shield on the bottom and a fair bit of load on that. But this time with the modifications we made down there for this flight. we're very, very happy with the results."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: This last launch was "a block upgrade" for Electron, which had "a lot of new changes" including "a stretched second stage."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck says the next recovery attempt will be dependent on "helicopter readiness," as Rocket Lab has "a significantly larger helicopter in work" and it "needs some modifications" done to be ready to catch Electron.

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck adds that Rocket Lab hopes to make the first helicopter catch of an Electron booster on a "flight within the first half of next year or as soon as practically possible."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: The Electron block upgrade "is the last major upgrade to the vehicle that we were planning."

No advertised increase in payload capacity due to the added hardware for recoveries.

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck says the schedule for launching from NASA's Wallops in Virginia is still "a little bit up in the air" but the company will "try and get there in the first half" of 2022.

The AFTS software is the hold up, which was "supposed to be complete by the end of this year."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: "The beautiful thing about the helicopter recovery is the actual costs" are low. Operating the helicopter costs a few thousand dollars since "you only actually fly for a few hours."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: "Electron reusability will never be like running a fleet."

"I anticipate around 50% of Electron flights will be reusable versus expendable."

Rocket Lab's main goal of reusing rockets remains improving production output.

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: Electron's first stage is "just a tad under" 1 metric ton at ~990 kilograms after it returns through the atmosphere.

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Rocket Lab is using a new thermal protection system (TPS) on its Electron booster with the next recovery flight, Beck says, showing off how the thing graphite "almost looks metallic."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck says it's "highly probable" Rocket Lab will provide an update on Neutron before the end of this year.

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck says 2021 "has been just a horrible year for launch for us, it's been really really tough," citing the New Zealand COVID lockdown procedures that have slowed production."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: "We have a bunch of launch vehicles sitting on the floor and we're going to have to have a very, very busy 2022."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck *thin, not thing! (Twitter edit button for live tweeting pls)

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck says Neutron boosters will not utilize parachutes for recovery, as "it's much too large a vehicle for that."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck Beck: "I think anybody who's not developing a reusable launch vehicle at this point in time is developing a dead end product because it's just so obvious that this is a fundamental approach that has to be baked in from day one."

@RocketLab @Peter_J_Beck That's all for the presser.