Birds of a Feather

Rocket Lab's 11th Electron flight - Birds of a Feather - launched a dedicated mission for the United States National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The mission successfully lifted off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 at 15:56 NZDT, 31 January 2020. 

The NRO competitively awarded the contract under the Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract vehicle. RASR allows the NRO to explore new launch opportunities that can provide a streamlined, commercial approach for getting small satellites into space.