Rocket Lab has launched a spacecraft from Mahia Peninsula to track and monitor another satellite as part of a US Space Force mission, completing the launch just over 16 hours after receiving authorisation.
The mission, called Victus Haze, involves a rapid threat-response scenario with a non-compliant satellite. Rocket Lab built a spacecraft called Pioneer to find, photograph and monitor the target satellite, Jackal, which was built by True Anomaly and launched in May 2026.
Rocket Lab completed spacecraft preparation in 37 hours, under the 72-hour window allocated for the mission. The US Space Force said the mission demonstrates the ability to quickly respond to adversary aggression, while Rocket Lab said the launch established a new standard worldwide for how quickly launch providers can respond to on-demand missions.
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck said "by launching on demand with spacecraft at-the-ready we've shown we can secure and defend the nation's space interests rapidly, and that's a powerful capability for the United States and its allies". He added that "this is what modern space power looks like: the ability to reinforce and reimagine national security space architecture at will, and we're proud to be providing the nation with those next-generation space capabilities, today".
The mission comes as the US military space wing faces concerns about China practicing with dogfighting satellites capable of grappling with and moving other satellites into different orbits. Rocket Lab has conducted rapid launches previously and, according to the company, no other small launch provider globally matches this capability.
Rocket Lab's stock price declined about 5% to approximately US$95 during a broader global stock sell-off that also affected SpaceX. The stock had previously peaked at around US$150.