Rocket Lab's next launch from Mahia in just over a week will involve a reusable rocket.
The United States-based space company says the next mission would be its third ocean recovery mission, bringing Electron's first stage back to Earth under a parachute before a soft landing in the ocean where a team of engineers will be stationed to retrieve it, haul it onboard their vessel, and bring it back to Rocket Lab's production complex for inspection.
For the first time a helicopter will be involved in the operations offshore and will simulate catching a returning rocket in preparation for future mid-air recovery missions.
The mission — called Love At First Insight — is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia during a 14-day launch window that opens on November 11.
The mission's primary objective is to deploy two Earth-observation satellites for global monitoring company BlackSky, with the secondary objective to splash down and recover Electron's first stage to further validate Rocket Lab's recovery operations and hardware.