The US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has launched another US spy satellite.
The NROL-199 spacecraft was launched on Thursday, Aug. 4, atop the Rocket Lab Electron booster from New Zealand.
The said spacecraft is said to complete a mystery mission.
NRO Launches NROL-199
According to The Guardian, the launch of NROL-199 happened two days later than planned after high winds delayed an attempted liftoff on Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Rocket Lab had shut down its webcast right after the Electron reached orbit at the request of the NRO.
The NRO is an agency that builds and operates a fleet of spy satellites in the US. The agency keeps details about the satellites' activities top secret, and NROL-199 is no exception to this rule. Publications have a vague idea of what the satellite will do in Earth's orbit.
In a description of the mission, Rocket Lab stated that its payload would support the NRO in providing critical information to government agencies and decision-makers monitoring international issues. The Rocket Lab calls this "Antipodean Adventure."
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What is the NROL-199
According to Space.com, NROL-199 is a joint effort of the NRO and the Australian Department of Defense or AUS DoD.
The two agencies also joint forces to launch another spy satellite, the NROL-162, which Electron launched three weeks ago, on July 13.
Rocket Lab added that both the NROL-199 and NROL-162 missions are a demonstration of responsive launch under the agency's Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket or RASR contract for launching small satellites through a commercial approach and are the third and fourth missions contracted to Rocket Lab by the agency under the contract.
The two mystery missions launched under the RASR contract lifted off in early 2020 and mid-2020.
The 58-foot-tall, two-stage Electron was created to give small satellites rides to the Earth's orbits. But it can do more than that.
Electron also sent NASA's CAPSTONE CubeSat toward the moon, and Rocket Lab plans to launch another mission to Venus in 2023.
Rocket Lab's communications manager Murielle Baker said in a commentary that the company's been very busy due to the scheduled launch of the spy satellites.
The company's CAPSTONE moon mission for NASA launched on June 28 and was followed a couple of days later by the NROL-162 mission, marking the company's fastest turnaround between missions so far.
What is Electron?
Electron is an expendable vehicle for satellites, but Rocket Lab is working to make it its first-ever reusable stage.
The plan calls for catching falling stages with a helicopter, then hauling them back to land for further inspection, refurbishment and relaunch.
Rocket Lab has recovered Electron first stages on different missions, even getting one booster with a chopper.
There were no such activities on Antipodean Adventure, as the Electron first stage ditched into the Pacific Ocean right after separating from the upper stage.
Russia's Inspector Satellite
Russia is also in on the mission as the US continues to launch spy satellites in the Earth's orbit. According to EurAsian Times,
Russia launched an inspector satellite named Kosmos-2558 on Wednesday, Aug. 3, just a day before NRO launched the NROL-199.
The satellite has sparked concerns among space experts as the Russian satellite is moving closer to a US spy satellite.
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Written by Sophie Webster
