offbeat
Less than 17 hours after receiving orders, Rocket Lab put Pioneer in orbit for close-range maneuvers with True Anomaly's Jackal satellite
Rocket Lab has just completed one of the most rapid space launches ever, kicking off a complicated exercise that will test the US Space Force’s ability to respond to and characterize potential threats in orbit.The Victus Haze mission, as the project is known, saw Rocket Lab lob one of its Pioneer spacecraft into orbit for the Space Force on June 19 in just 16 hours and 42 minutes, beating the notice-to-launch record set during the 2023 Victus Nox tactically responsive space mission (TacRS) by more than 10 hours. In addition to the rapid launch, Rocket Lab also managed to fully ready its Pioneer spacecraft being used for the exercise in just 37 hours and 36 minutes, well in advance of Victus Haze’s 72-hour commissioning deadline. With Pioneer now in orbit, the next phase of Victus Haze is set to begin.
“The mission will now transition into an on-orbit focus placing operationally relevant systems through realistic rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) threat response scenarios,” the US Space Force said in its own announcement of the Rocket Lab launch.
