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I believe the current plan is to drop them with a parachute: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_Centaur#SMART_reuse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_Centa

• ceejayoz 6y ago
  They suspended those plans. > Through 2020, ULA has not announced firm plans to fund and build/test this engine-reuse concept, though they stated in late 2019 that they were "still planning to eventually reuse Vulcan’s first-stage engines."
• donor20 6y ago
  Interesting - inflatable heat shield, parachute, mid air helicopter catch. A few moving parts - be interesting to watch these - they claim 90% first stage cost savings. I remember blue orgin trying to block SpaceX from pad 39A. They even appealed NASA's decision to GAO I think. They were going to be launching orbital mission in 2018 I think with folks on board. Whatever happened to those launch plans? Elon had a pretty memorable quote I think. "If they do somehow show up in the next 5 years with a vehicle qualified to NASA's human rating standards that can dock with the Space Station, which is what Pad 39A is meant to do, we will gladly accommodate their needs," Musk wrote. "Frankly, I think we are more likely to discover unicorns dancing in the flame duct."