Rocket Lab launches satellite for U.S. Space Force Victus Haze responsive space exercise

Rocket Lab has successfully launched the second spacecraft for the U.S. Space Force's Victus Haze Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) mission, setting a new readiness record in the process. Only 16 hours and 42 minutes passed between Rocket Lab receiving the Notice To Launch from the Space Force's Space Safari Program Office and liftoff of the company's Electron launch vehicle , beating the previous TacRS record set by Firefly Aerospace on the September 2023 Victus Nox mission by more than 10 hours. Liftoff occurred on Friday (June 19) at 6:19 a.m.

Rocket Lab successfully launched a military payload into orbit on Friday less than 17 hours after receiving orders from the Space Force, once again advancing the service’s ability to quickly put new satellites on orbit. The company’s Pioneer payload was launched aboard a Rocket Lab Electron space vehicle from the firm’s private launch site in Mahia, New Zealand, as part of the Space Force’s Victus Haze mission.

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.