In January 1960, NASA launched the rhesus monkey Miss Sam aboard a Little Joe rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia, to test the launch escape system built for Project Mercury. ^[1] On 2026-08-27, Rocket Lab announced that the Hungry Hippo fairing section of its Neutron rocket completed all necessary testing before its first flight, including opening and closing of the halves in flight-like conditions. ^[2] According to NASA, the capsule reached a velocity of 1,800 mph and an altitude of 9 miles before descending into the Atlantic Ocean roughly 10.8 miles downrange from the launch site. ^[3] The flight was designed to confirm that the escape tower could pull the capsule clear of its booster during an abort, a safeguard critical to any future human mission. ^[4] The mission formed part of a wider programme of primate testing that shaped NASA's assessment of the safety of the Mercury spacecraft ahead of crewed flight. ^[5] Earlier in August 2026, Rocket Lab reported that the Hungry Hippo fairing had received all required subystems, including thermal protection, control surfaces, and avionics. ^[6] In August 2026, Rocket Lab disclosed that its Archimedes engine had completed over 400 hot-fire tests, with control and durability confirmed across flight hardware for all major components. ^[7] Rocket Lab was selected by the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command as a partner for the Space Data Network (SDN), for which it will develop and test communications systems and perform an on-orbit demonstration with one of its Photon satellites. ^[8]