SSC, Firefly Aerospace Launch Achieves New Record With Victus Nox TacRS Mission

The U.S. Space Systems Command and Firefly Aerospace have launched the Victus Nox mission in just over a day, marking a new record for space launch responsiveness. Victus Nox is an effort to advance the SSC’s Tactically Responsive Space capabilities.

Within 27 hours of receiving launch orders, SSC and Firefly mated a Millennium Space Systems-built vehicle onto the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle, which was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Victus Nox is a mission led by the SSC Space Safari Program Office designed to reduce timelines throughout all aspects of a space mission, the Vandenberg Space Force Base said.

The mission eclipsed the previous record holder for the fastest acquisition-to-launch TacRS record of 21 days, which was achieved in June 2021 through the Tactically Responsive Launch-2 mission. The TacRL-2 mission delivered a technology demonstrator satellite to low-Earth orbit through a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL aircraft-deployed rocket.

Following the launch of TacRL-2, retired Gen. John Raymond, the former chief of space operations at the U.S. Space Force and a 2022 Wash100 winner, said the mission demonstrated the United States’ ability to develop and launch capabilities into space at speed.