
Rocket Lab's new "Hungry Hippo" payload fairing has been safely delivered to the company's integration facilities at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), in Virginia.
The novel rocket topper will cap Rocket Lab's Neutron launch vehicle, which is still currently under development. The company had previously been progressing toward a Q1 2026 debut of the new medium-lift rocket, but a failure in the rocket's main stage during a recent pressure test has put Neutron on a more uncertain timeline.