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> I though SpaceX catches its entire rocket (all stages) now with rafts/boats, doesn't it? SpaceX doesn't catch anything at the moment. The first stage lands

> I though SpaceX catches its entire rocket (all stages) now with rafts/boats, doesn't it? SpaceX doesn't catch anything at the moment. The first stage lands itself either at the launch site or on the autonomous barge at sea. The fairings for the second stage get pulled out of the ocean by ship after they splash down. They used to try to catch these and that's what you're thinking of but they weren't that successful at it. I believe they redesigned the fairings to be okay spending a short amount of time in salt water and they seem to be having a pretty good success rate for this. The second stage of the Falcon burns up in the atmosphere. Their Starship project is attempting to fix this. The advantage of this approach for Rocket Lab is that they'll be able to re-use the first stage. At the moment SpaceX is the only one doing that and it's why they have such a commanding position in the market. I haven't seen an explanation for why (I'm sure it's out there, I just haven't seen it) but my guess is that the Electron is a much smaller rocket than the Falcon and they can't spare the lift capacity to propulsively land the vehicle.

AngryData 4y ago
Also there should be a weight/fuel reduction for not having to hold enough fuel to land itself and every bit counts. Along with not having to worry about igniting/firing your rocket engines a second time in a flight which is reduced complexity and also allows for solid booster recovery.
- raphaelj 4y ago
  Indeed. Reusable SpaceX rockets have 30% small payload compared to non-reusable ones, as they have to carry extra fuel for landing. Catching the rocket instead of landing it could be significantly more efficient as you wouldn't have to carry much more weight except for the parachute.
  - adrianN 4y ago
    You would also have to build your rocket such that it can survive the shock of braking via parachute. That eats at least some of the weight savings.
    - throwaway0a5e 4y ago
      This isn't a 5-layer cake we're talking about here. A structure that can survive being caught between a payload on one end and a rocket motor on the other is going already have the strength you need in most of the places you need it in order to hang from a parachute. The hard part is going to be attachment point real-estate since the most logical choice is going to have it fighting for space with rocket motor bits.
inglor_cz 4y ago
"The second stage of the Falcon burns up in the atmosphere. Their Starship project is attempting to fix this." Just in case: Starship is a whole new rocket, not just an evolutionary upgrade of extant Falcon 9 to full reusability.

AngryData 4y ago

Also there should be a weight/fuel reduction for not having to hold enough fuel to land itself and every bit counts. Along with not having to worry about igniting/firing your rocket engines a second time in a flight which is reduced complexity and also allows for solid booster recovery.

raphaelj 4y ago
Indeed. Reusable SpaceX rockets have 30% small payload compared to non-reusable ones, as they have to carry extra fuel for landing. Catching the rocket instead of landing it could be significantly more efficient as you wouldn't have to carry much more weight except for the parachute.
- adrianN 4y ago
  You would also have to build your rocket such that it can survive the shock of braking via parachute. That eats at least some of the weight savings.
  - throwaway0a5e 4y ago
    This isn't a 5-layer cake we're talking about here. A structure that can survive being caught between a payload on one end and a rocket motor on the other is going already have the strength you need in most of the places you need it in order to hang from a parachute. The hard part is going to be attachment point real-estate since the most logical choice is going to have it fighting for space with rocket motor bits.

inglor_cz 4y ago

"The second stage of the Falcon burns up in the atmosphere. Their Starship project is attempting to fix this." Just in case: Starship is a whole new rocket, not just an evolutionary upgrade of extant Falcon 9 to full reusability.