Has Rocket Lab launched us across political threshold?

There's no doubt that Rocket Lab is a Kiwi success story, but do the dizzying heights of their technical achievements keep us from asking important questions about how they operate? That's what astronomer Dr Ian Griffin asked in an opinion article for the Otago Daily Times today. The catalyst for it was a social media post Rocket Lab put out last week, saying quote, "The Space Force called, and we launched." According to Rocket Lab, it was less than 17 hours between receiving a request from the US Space Force and launching a payload from Mahia Peninsula. Which is incredible - but did it mean important questions weren't considered? Here to discuss is Dr Ian Griffin.