Here are a couple of relevant articles that people may find interesting: An overview of a 2008 ULA proposal for mid-air recovery of first stage rocket engines:

Here are a couple of relevant articles that people may find interesting: An overview of a 2008 ULA proposal for mid-air recovery of first stage rocket engines: http://selenianboondocks.com/2008/09/partial-rocket-reuse-using-mid-air-recovery-a-review/ http://selenianboondocks.com/2008/09/partial-rocket-reuse-us... An article about Hiller's 1965 proposal for using a giant helicopter to recover an entire Saturn V first stage: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1045/1 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1045/1