That is apparently what happened last week. Rocket Lab had another launch on its schedule for a commercial customer last week, but the company announced a postponement last Tuesday \u201cto conduct additional checkouts,\u201d without offering any additional details. Safety notices began to appear on aviation and maritime websites a couple of days later, just hours before the launch window for Victus Haze opened on Friday.<\/p>\n
The launch time, estimated to be approximately 6:20 am EDT (10:20 UTC) on Friday, was set to coincide with the passage of the orbit of one of True Anomaly\u2019s satellites over New Zealand. True Anomaly\u2019s Jackal-0004 satellite launched from California on May 3 on a SpaceX rideshare mission. Publicly available orbit data indicated Rocket Lab\u2019s Victus Haze Puma satellite approached within 60 miles (100 km) of the Jackal satellite just eight hours after launch, according to Jonathan McDowell<\/a>, an astrophysicist who expertly tracks space activity using open source data.<\/p>\n Based on previous statements from officials, the Victus Haze mission will unfold with additional maneuvers to bring Rocket Lab\u2019s Puma satellite closer to True Anomaly\u2019s Jackal. Eventually, the satellites are expected to switch roles, with Jackal serving as the inspector and Puma acting as the target.<\/p>\n