True, not in the same way as in the case of the Falcon 9
Rocket Lab has joined SpaceX in a fictitious club of companies building launch vehicles with reusable boosters.
SpaceX is not alone in returning the first stage of a rocket. Rocket Lab did this for the first time with their Electron rocket.
Rocket Lab’s small Electron rocket has been around for several years, but yesterday the company managed to bring back the first stage for the first time. True, this is not as impressively implemented as that of SpaceX – the booster drops by parachute. There are two reasons for this implementation. Firstly, Electron is a small rocket, and it simply does not have room for the fuel supply required to return the booster in the same way as it was done in Falcon 9. Secondly, Electron was created without considering the possibility of returning the first stage – it was added after they began to operate the rocket.
Actually, and in terms of its capabilities, Electron cannot be compared with Falcon 9. But even now, the launch of this rocket costs only $ 5 million. In the foreseeable future, if the company is constantly able to return the first stages of rockets, the cost should decrease even more. …
