{"id":22143,"date":"2022-08-05T17:00:57","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T09:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-lab-launches-second-national-security-launch-with-impressive-cadence\/"},"modified":"2022-08-05T17:00:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T09:00:57","slug":"rocket-lab-launches-second-national-security-launch-with-impressive-cadence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-lab-launches-second-national-security-launch-with-impressive-cadence\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab launches second national security launch with impressive cadence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rocket Lab completes back to back launches for the NRO<\/h2>\n

NROL-199 was a classified mission developed jointly between the U.S. NRO and Australia\u2019s Department of Defense. This mission comes just three weeks since its partner mission NROL-162 launched from the same complex.<\/p>\n

This was the first back to back launch from Rocket Lab\u2019s LC-1A and LC-1B pads, both in Mahai, New Zealand. The launches were contracted under the NRO\u2019s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket contract which aims to streamline how the NRO purchases flights for its national security payloads. In recent years, the DoD has been looking to become more agile in how it acquires both launches and satellites for its missions. <\/p>\n

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Launch of Rocket Lab\u2019s NROL-162 mission three weeks earlier on LC-1A. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Usually the NRO will pay a major defense contractor hundreds of millions to build a large satellite over almost 10 years, then contract the launch to either ULA or SpaceX (the only two companies qualified to launch these large, sensitive payloads) several years out. This whole process is long, expensive, and usually means the satellites you get are using 10 year old technology. The transition will take time, but these launches by Rocket Lab are a step toward making that goal a reality.<\/p>\n