Rocket Lab launches Space Force mission in under 17 hours

Rocket Lab launched a Pioneer spacecraft for the US Space Force's Victus Haze mission in 16 hours and 42 minutes, beating the previous record by over 10 hours. The spacecraft was readied in 37 hours and 36 minutes. Pioneer will now perform rendezvous maneuvers with True Anomaly's Jackal satellite to simulate threat response scenarios.