The mission, named Birds of Feather 'NROL-151', is scheduled for liftoff from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The company, in this mission, will attempt a guided re-entry of the Electron vehicle's first stage
FREMONT, CA: Small satellite launch company Rocket Lab is set to fly its first mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), kick-starting what will be a busy year for the company with plans for a new launchpad and headquarters. The mission, named Birds of Feather 'NROL-151’ is scheduled for liftoff from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The company, in this mission, will attempt a guided re-entry of the Electron vehicle's first stage. However, the stage will not be recovered after splashdown.
"We are honored the NRO has selected Rocket Lab as the launch provider for this dedicated mission," said Lars Hoffman, Rocket Lab's senior vice president for Global Launch Services. "The Electron launch vehicle is perfectly positioned to provide the kind of rapid and responsive access to space that puts the NRO in complete control over their launch schedule and orbital requirements," added he.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
The NROL-151 will be the NRO's first launch awarded under the program called Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR), started by the agency in 2018 to use commercial providers to launch small satellites. The NRO is currently responsible for the development and launch of intelligence satellites for the United States. The RASR program was created to leverage emerging services offered by commercial small launch providers as the U.S. government seeks to deploy proliferated constellations in low Earth orbit. "Under this approach, RASR helps us pursue the use of both large & small satellites to create an integrated architecture that provides global coverage to answer a wide range of intelligence questions," NRO officials added.
The 57-foot tall Electron booster is capable of launching satellites weighing up to 500 lbs into orbit for approximately USD 5 million per flight. The NROL-151 will be the NRO's first spy satellite that will be launched from foreign soil. The mission comes amidst a growth spurt for the Huntington Beach, California-based company, which opened its first U.S. launch site, called Launch Complex 2 in December 2019, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.
