Open letter to Prime Minister expresses concerns for Rocket Lab s planned Gunsmoke-J launch stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
10/03/2021 Photo credit: Twitter / Rocket Lab
The Green Party says an upcoming Rocket Lab launch in New Zealand breaches national security and threatens the country s sovereignty and national interests.
Rocket Lab, which is United States-owned but based in New Zealand, is due to launch its next mission in mid-March at Māhia Peninsula. The mission will carry and deploy satellites for a range of commercial and government customers, including the US Army s Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC).
The They Go Up So Fast mission will carry the SMDC s Gunsmoke-J payload, which is described by Rocket Lab as an experimental satellite that will test technologies that support development of new capabilities for the US Army .
Rocket Lab, Stuart Nash, respond to Greens attack on combat-support satellite launch
10 Mar, 2021 06:39 PM
10 minutes to read
Rocket Lab s new, larger, crew-capable Neutron Rocket, scheduled for its first launch in 2024. Video / Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab s new, larger, crew-capable Neutron Rocket, scheduled for its first launch in 2024. Video / Rocket Lab The Greens have stepped up an attack on Rocket Lab for including a US military satellite in its next launch - Gunsmoke-J , a prototype for a possible series of nano-satellites that will collect targeting data in direct support of Army combat operations according to a US Army fact sheet and a US Department of Defence budget document.