Watch Rocket Lab launch the first of two missions for the National Reconnaissance Office

Watch Rocket Lab launch the first of two missions for the National Reconnaissance Office

2 years ago
Anonymous $0BkBa0cUPa

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/12/watch-rocket-lab-launch-the-first-of-two-missions-for-the-national-reconnaissance-office/

Rocket Lab is attempting to demonstrate its speediest launch cadence yet, with two back-to-back missions for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) scheduled to fly 10 days apart. The first mission, dubbed “Wise One Looks Ahead” or NROL-162, is due to launch no earlier than July 12 at 1:00 AM EST (5:00 AM UTC) from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand.

The quick cadence is due, in part, to the completion of a second launch pad at the launch facilities. That will enable Rocket Lab to launch this first mission from Pad A (LC-1A) and the second mission from Pad B (LC-1B) no earlier than July 22. Rocket Lab announced the completion of the second launch pad in February. Including the company’s launch site at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, which has yet to be used, Rocket Lab now has three launch pads at its disposal.