Early in the morning on March 21st, Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia under the veil of darkness and secrecy. Codenamed “Live and Let Fly”, the mission saw three payloads deployed into low earth orbit for the US National Reconnaissance Office(NRO), the agency responsible for America's spy satellites.
While launch provider Rocket Lab livestreamed the liftoff for about 11 minutes, very few details were disclosed about the nature of the payloads or their objectives in space. Referring to them only as “research missions”, the NRO as expected maintains tight-lipped confidentiality about its surveillance satellites.
Secured through a Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket contract, the NROL-123 mission highlights the NRO's strategy of using small commercial rockets to swiftly deploy spy craft. It was the fifth collaboration between Rocket Lab and the intelligence agency, following previous launches from New Zealand.
Approximately an hour after launch, the payloads successfully reached their intended orbits. Then the live broadcast abruptly ended, likely complying with security protocols. Such clandestine operations have become Rocket Lab's specialty in serving national security space needs.
While recovery attempts of its reusable first stages were ruled out for this classified mission, Rocket Lab is working to make Electron a more cost effective platform. Operating from both US east and west coast spaceports, the company is also expanding smallsat launch capacity to competitively support the growing surveillance market.
As a leader in facilitating rapid, dedicated access to space for governments and business, Rocket Lab continues to shape the new space landscape with innovative technologies and launch services. Their partnership with the NRO highlights the vital roles private aerospace now plays in supporting American intelligence-gathering missions from dusk till dawn.
