Rocket Lab’s first recovery mission, 'Return to Sender,' launched in November 2020 and successfully deployed a parachute system and recovered an Electron stage from an ocean splashdown.
Rocket Lab successfully launched the 16th Electron mission 'Return to Sender' on 20 November 2020 at 15:20 UTC.
Gnome Chompski is a 0.15 m, 3D-printed titanium mass simulator manufactured by Weta Workshop for Gabe Newell and launched as part of the Return to Sender mission.
The Return to Sender mission brought Rocket Lab’s total number of satellites launched to 95.
The Return to Sender mission deployed 30 small satellites to orbit, the largest number of satellites deployed by Electron on a single mission to date.
The Return to Sender mission launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula.