Responsive Launch and Military Demand
Will armed forces need rockets that can launch within days or hours, and who could provide them?
Chapter summary
Probably, in modest numbers.
Key takeaways
- 1
Proliferated military constellations and the threat of attacks on satellites (Study S4) have created a requirement to replace lost satellites quickly, and the US Space Force has run "tactically responsive space" demonstrations since 2023, including Victus Nox, which launched on a Firefly Alpha 27 hours after the order was given.
- 2
Responsive launch favours small and medium rockets with their own launch sites, ready inventories of satellites, and fast licensing.
- 3
It is a niche market, perhaps tens of launches a year across allies, but a strategically valuable one for companies such as Rocket Lab and Firefly and for Europe's new launchers.
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