The company said the experiment conducted during its 15th orbital mission to parachute down and recover the first stage of an Electron rocket had proved a “huge success”. After the rocket was recovered, the company began checking if parts could be re-used.

While the company never intended to re-fly the whole stage, Electron returned in such good condition that they will attempt to re-qualify and re-fly some components on future missions.

Rocket Lab would carry out more recovery missions this year. The first will be very similar to the ‘Return to Sender’ test in November and include parachute deployment and splashdown in the ocean.

Reusing rockets could allow the company to increase the frequency of its launches and reduce its prices. The company aims to use a helicopter to snag its rockets as they parachute back and before they fall into the sea – a process it tested using a dummy rocket released by helicopter in March.