The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has selected Rocket Lab’s medium-lift reusable Neutron for the Rocket Cargo mission…Earlier this year, the company announced that its Neutron rocket will land its payloads at sea. To facilitate this, the company is modifying an offshore barge, named “Return on Investment,” to serve as an ocean landing platform for returning missions…Rocket Lab, along with Stoke Space, will now be eligible to bid against established giants like Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance.
So, um… maybe I’m just an idiot, but how exactly does one tell the difference between an intercontinental cargo rocket and an intercontinental ballistic missile?
This seems like a huge recipe for disaster.
That’s an excellent point.
I don’t really know what the launch detection sensors’ capabilities are. However, there’s probably a detectably different spectrographic signature from solid fuel rockets like ICBMs versus Neutron’s methalox.
I mean what stops you from just using either delivery system. So long as you can fit the package.
I imagine just like you do now with their launch notification system.