Tuesday, August 02, 2022

SECRET SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH JUST HOURS AWAY: #NROL199

 It was delayed to fix a software problem - now set to blast-off at 5 a.m.The Press Kit is available at https://www.rocketlabusa.com/assets/Uploads/Flight-29-Press-Kit-FINAL.pdf.

Per the Press Kit, the launch window is 05:00-07:00 UTC. The NROL-199 launch was initially scheduled for 22 July but was delayed due to software issues.



  • NROL-199 | Rocket Lab | August 02 | 0100 ET

    @RocketLab to launch @NatReconOfc's classified #NROL199 mission under #RASR (Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket). 29th #Electron mission overall, dubbed Antipodean Adventure.

    https://twitter.com/SpaceIntellige3/status/1554085580518166528

  • #25 by FutureSpaceTourist on 02 Aug, 2022 00:24

  • #26 by zubenelgenubi on 02 Aug, 2022 00:33
  • https://mobile.twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1554202174732656640
  • #27 by FutureSpaceTourist on 02 Aug, 2022 00:40
  • https://twitter.com/rocketlab/status/1554258594220060673

    US and Australia to launch second joint spy satellite from site in New Zealand

    Some in space industry bewildered by Australia’s lack of fanfare about the launch of the satellites, which will be used to collect intelligence for allied nations

    A second spy satellite built by Australia and the United States is scheduled for liftoff on Tuesday from a launch site in New Zealand.

    The first of the two satellites, which will be used to collect intelligence for the allied nations, launched two weeks ago.


    The Australian Department of Defence did not announce the successful launch of the first satellite or the launch date of the second.

    US spy agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, has been celebrating the “Antipodean Adventure”, which features a crocodile, a rocket and an eagle on its logo.


    Some in the space industry are bewildered by the lack of information and fanfare on the Australian side.

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    Malcolm Davis, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s senior analyst and resident space expert, said there is a “very different culture” in the US military, which actively promotes its work, and the Australian military, which is “closed off”.

    “It’s not just these particular satellites, it’s an attitude within Defence that they’re very closed off,” he said.

    “The Americans are very forward. You only need to look at how they support movies like Top Gun: Maverick. It’s a very different culture, and it’s a frustrating one down here.”

    The first satellite, NROL-162, features a frill-necked lizard patch. “The frilled-neck lizard is a reptile primarily located in northern Australia and much like the lizard, it represents the small, agile nature of the payload to be launched,” the NRO said.

    Its logo says sapiens qui prospicit: “Wise is the person who looks ahead”.


    The second, NROL-199, has a dingo: “It represents a small to medium-sized canine built for speed, agility, and stamina.” Its logo says ad astra per aspera: “Through hardships to the stars.”

    New Zealand’s Rocket Lab is providing the rockets to deliver the classified payloads into orbit from the launch site on the Māhia Peninsula.

    The NRO’s mission is to “produce intelligence products” for policymakers and “warfighters” as well as civilian use.

    A Defence spokesperson said the department partnered with the NRO for “two space missions as part of a broad range of cooperative satellite activities”.

    As defence minister, Peter Dutton announced Australia’s intention to work with the NRO to build a “more capable, integrated, and resilient space architecture designed to provide global coverage in support of a wide range of intelligence mission requirements”.

    Earlier this year he announced a separate plan to develop a surveillance satellite with Queensland company Gilmour Space Technologies, due to launch next year.

    • Rocket Lab Successfully Launches First of Two Responsive Space Missions for the National Reconnaissance Office

    Lift-off of the NROL-162 national security mission for the National Reconnaissance Office on Electron from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1. (Photo: Business Wire)

    LONG BEACH, Calif.--()--Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, has successfully launched the first of two responsive space missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

    Following lift-off of NROL-162 (“Wise One Looks Ahead”) from Pad A at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 at 06:30 UTC, July 13, 2022, Electron successfully delivered the NRO’s national security payload to space. In partnership with the Australian Department of Defence, NROL-162 will provide critical information to the United States Government’s agencies and allies and national security decision makers monitoring and responding to world events and humanitarian issues.

    “Wise One Looks Ahead” is the first of a pair of back-to-back responsive space missions commissioned by the NRO for dedicated launch on Electron. NROL-199 (“Antipodean Adventure”), the follow-up mission to NROL-162, is scheduled to launch in just nine days’ time from Pad B at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on July 22, 2022. With multiple launch pads, dedicated range and mission control centres, and several Electron rockets ready to fly, Rocket Lab is delivering responsive space capability to the national security community.

    NROL-162 and NROL-199 are the latest pair of missions awarded by the NRO under the Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract. Rocket Lab previously successfully delivered a pair of national security missions to space for the NRO on Electron in January and June 2020.

    Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, says: “The successful deployment of NROL-162 to orbit is another fantastic achievement by the Rocket Lab team, but we’re not resting on our laurels. No other small launch provider has ever before prepared a dedicated launch for a small national security payload in such a rapid turnround, and our sights are set on delivering the next NRO mission to space in record-time.”

    NEXT MISSION
    NROL-199 / “Antipodean Adventure” launch details:

    • Launch Window Opens: July 22, UTC
    • Launch vehicle: Electron
    • Customer: National Reconnaissance Office
    • Launch site: Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Pad B
    • Mission type: Dedicated
    • Payload: NROL-199

    + Images & Video Content
    https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzPrHL

    + About Rocket Lab
    Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle and the Photon satellite platform and is developing the Neutron 8-ton payload class launch vehicle. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 148 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft platform has been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a second launch site in Virginia, USA which is expected to become operational in 2022. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.

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    AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI TAKE-OUT

     Today we have more details...


    News|Explainer

    US kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri: What we know so far

    Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone attack that targeted a house in central Kabul, Afghanistan, according to the US.

    Published On 2 Aug 2022

    The United States has confirmed the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone attack in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.


    Al-Zawahiri, who had a $25m US reward on his head, is regarded as one of the masterminds behind the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. He had taken over the armed group after the US killing of the then al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.

    Here is what we know so far about the attack:

    What is the US saying?

    • Biden greenlit the high-precision attack by the CIA, which took place on July 31, while he was recovering in isolation from COVID-19 a few days earlier.
    • US intelligence officials had tracked down al-Zawahiri to a home in central Kabul where he was staying with his family.
    • Biden said he hoped al-Zawahiri’s death would bring “closure” to families of the 3,000 people killed in the US on 9/11, saying “justice has been delivered”.
    • No civilians were killed, Biden said, and warned that Washington would not allow Afghanistan to become a “terrorist safe haven” again.
    • A senior US administration official said al-Zawahiri was on the balcony of a house in Kabul when he was targeted with two Hellfire missiles, an hour after sunrise.
    • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the Taliban of “grossly” violating the Doha Agreement by hosting and sheltering al-Zawahiri. Signed by the Taliban and the US in the Qatari capital in 2020, the pact facilitated the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan.

    What has been the Taliban’s reaction?

    • The Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan last year, confirmed the strike, without naming al-Zawahiri.
    • It condemned the drone strike as a “violation of international principles” and a violation of the Doha Agreement.
    • Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the hit was carried out on a residential house in the Sherpur area of Kabul, where many Taliban leaders reside.
    • Mujahid said the US attack was a “repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the US, Afghanistan and the region”.

    Who was Ayman al-Zawahiri?

    • Al-Zawahiri, a surgeon by training, was born in Cairo in 1951 into a middle-class family of doctors and scholars.
    • He was reportedly arrested as young as 15 for being a member of the then-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
    • In 1985, he left Egypt for Pakistan’s Peshawar, where he worked as a doctor treating fighters wounded in battles against Soviet forces occupying neighbouring Afghanistan.
    • He was indicted in the US for his role in the August 7, 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people and wounded more than 5,000 others.
    • He is also believed to have plotted the October 12, 2000 attack on the USS Cole naval vessel in Yemen which killed 17 US sailors and wounded more than 30 others.
    • Al-Zawahiri was second-in-command during the plotting of the 9/11 attacks, and took over after bin Laden was killed in 2011.

    What has been the international reaction?

    • Saudi Arabia has welcomed the announcement of al-Zawahiri’s death, saying “thousands of innocent people of different nationalities and religions, including Saudi citizens, were killed” by terrorists under his leadership.
    • Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the thoughts of Australians are with the families of all the victims of al-Zawahri’s “acts of terror”.
    • Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, also said al-Zawahiri’s killing was “a step toward a safer world”.

    INTERACTIVE_AYMAN AL ZAWAHIRI

    Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
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    Monday, August 01, 2022

    American Drone Killl Over-The-Weekend: News Release was delayed

     Add this to today's news cycle:

    Top stories

    Foreign Policy

    U.S. kills Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in drone strike: Sources

    President Joe Biden plans to give a speech about “a successful counterterrorism mission” at 7:30 p.m.

    By Alexander Ward

    The United States killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike over the weekend, two people briefed on the operation told POLITICO.

    In a statement to reporters, a senior administration official said “over the weekend, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation against a significant Al Qaeda target in Afghanistan. The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties.”

    One of the people briefed on the operation said the strike in Kabul was led by the CIA.

    President Joe Biden plans to give a speech about “on a successful counterterrorism mission” at 7:30 p.m.

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    Fire & Rain: Re-Active Relief Package passed in The House...not likely to go any farther | AZMirror

    U.S. House passes major wildfire and drought package

    By: - August 1, 2022 7:19 am

    The U.S. House approved, 218-199, on Friday a massive package of bills to address the growing threat of wildfire and drought in the West.

    The measure includes 49 standalone bills from both Democrats and Republicans. It includes provisions to make permanent an increase in wildland firefighter pay, lift a cap on the federal cost share for post-fire recovery funding and authorize more than $1.5 billion for water infrastructure to help manage drought conditions.

    Republicans said the spending would not meaningfully improve fire prevention and called for allowing more logging to thin forests.

    There were 217 Democrats who voted in favor of the bill, and one Republican. One Democrat was opposed and 198 Republicans.

    GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

    The package’s future is unclear. The White House issued a statement that fell short of full support and members of the Senate have not indicated they would take up the legislation.

    Colorado Democrat Joe Neguse, the chairman of a House subcommittee on public lands and forestry, sponsored the omnibus measure and led debate on the floor Friday.

    In the last two years, three catastrophic wildfires have devastated parts Neguse’s Boulder-area district, he said on the House floor Friday. Responding to such events now takes up much of his and other congressional offices’ time. 

    “We have a duty to provide our constituents with the support that they need to rebuild and to recover,” Neguse said. “The reality is that we are living with a new normal as climate change results in a hotter, drier planet where historic drought and record setting wildfires are not merely a possibility, but an inevitability.”

    Wildfires have devastated New Mexico as well this year, with the Forest Service blamed for the largest wildfire in the state’s recorded history.

    Firefighter pay

    Neguse highlighted the firefighter pay measure, which would indefinitely extend a raise to a minimum of $20 per hour enacted in last year’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law. Without congressional action, the raise would expire at the end of September 2023.

    The package also includes a Neguse bill to allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to lift the cap on the federal share of fire assistance grants. The cap is currently 75%, but the bill would direct FEMA to determine circumstances when the federal share could be higher.

    The measure would ratify a 10-year plan for the U.S. Forest Service, authorizing $1.5 billion per year for the next decade for fire-related programs. It would also authorize spending on large scale forest projects the administration has already identified.Related

    Those projects include the Four Forest Restoration Initiative, known as 4FRI, and Greater Prescott Area Wildlife Protection and Restoration in Arizona, the Colorado Front Range, Southwest Idaho, the Kootenai Complex in Montana, the Enchanted Circle in New Mexico and Central Oregon.

    The package also includes several water bills, including a measure to provide $1 billion for tribal water infrastructure grants.

    The bill would authorize $700 million more for a water-recycling project created in the infrastructure law.

    New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury sponsored three water bills, including bills to authorize $500 million to help keep Colorado River Basin reservoirs from declining to critical levels and to establish a management plan for the Rio Grande Basin.

    “We must pass this legislation so that our communities have the tools and the resources that they need to remain resilient,” Stansbury said.

    The package would also establish a National Disaster Safety Board to collect data on natural disasters and provide recommendations to prevent future loss of life. It would create another board to study wildfire impacts and the effects of climate change on fires.

    White House lukewarm

    The Biden administration offered qualified support for House passage of the bill in a July 26 statement from the Office of Management and Budget.

    “The Administration appreciates the interest of Congress in the Administration’s efforts to address climate change and its effects on wildfires and drought,” the statement said. “The Administration would like to work with the Congress to ensure the many provisions in the Act avoid duplication with existing authorities and Administration efforts.”


    Republicans raised a host of objections to the bill, including that it did not meaningfully update federal forest management practices to allow for more logging and that they were excluded from contributing at the committee level.

    Logging helps keep forests from becoming overgrown with brush that can make fires more intense and spread faster, they said. 

    “Excess timber will always come out of the forest,” U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, a California Republican, said. “Either we will carry it out, or nature will burn it out. When we carried it out by logging, we enjoyed healthy forests and a thriving economy … Our forests are now morbidly overgrown and nature is again burning out the excess.

    “This bill does nothing to reform the laws that have made active forest management impossible, and instead it consigns us to fight a losing battle.”

    House Natural Resources ranking Republican Bruce Westerman of Arkansas also said one of the bill’s most central features — the raise in firefighter pay — was more style than substance, as it would only extend a current policy. Because infrastructure law already set firefighter pay at $20 per hour, Friday’s bill did nothing, he said.

    “You should never confuse motion with action, which is exactly what the legislation before us today does,” he said on the House floor. “This bill is more than 550 pages that does absolutely nothing to prevent wildfires or significantly improve our resiliency to drought.”

    Permanent pay raise 

    Neguse took issue with Westerman’s description, noting that the pay raise in the infrastructure bill was set to expire next year. The House bill would make the raise permanent. 

    Additionally, Westerman said the U.S. Forest Service has told Republicans on the committee that without additional appropriations, the pay raise would require layoffs of hundreds of firefighters.

    House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that was the nature of Congress, where bills authorizing federal funding levels are typically passed separately from those that actually appropriate the spending.

    “Some say this is an authorizing bill,” Hoyer said. “It is an authorizing bill. That’s regular order. It will be our responsibility, then, to appropriate the funds that are necessary to carry out the objectives of this bill, and I hope we can do so in a bipartisan way.”

    The Senate has not scheduled any consideration of the measure. 

    A spokesman for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which would have jurisdiction over most of the package, declined to comment Friday.

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