Pete Hegseth (Peter B. Hegseth) is a former U.S. Army National Guard infantry officer and media personality who has served since January 25, 2025 as the 29th U.S. Secretary of Defense in the Trump administration, a role that now also carries the secondary title "Secretary of War." As Secretary of War/Defense he is the civilian head of the Department of Defense/War, responsible for overall direction, policy, and control of the U.S. armed forces and for advising the president on military and national security matters.[1][2]
Historically, the U.S. Department of War was the cabinet department that ran the Army (and, early on, some naval affairs) from 1789 until 1947, when it was replaced by the National Military Establishment, later renamed the Department of Defense.[3] In 2025, President Trump signed an executive order allowing the modern Department of Defense and its secretary to use "Department of War" and "Secretary of War" as additional, ceremonial titles, while the legal name and structure of the Department of Defense remain unchanged.[1][4]
The "Arsenal of Freedom" tour is a month‑long, multistate campaign by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in early 2026 in which he visits shipyards, factories, bases and other defense‑industry sites. According to the department’s own description and aligned coverage, its stated purpose is to rally and "revitalize" America’s defense industrial base, highlight the role of manufacturing workers in national security, and push acquisition reforms that reward speed, capacity and innovation as part of a broader "peace through strength" agenda.[5][6]
Multiple independent reports identify the Los Angeles County space company on this tour stop as Rocket Lab, an aerospace and launch firm headquartered in Long Beach; Hegseth visited its Long Beach engine and spacecraft production campus on January 9, 2026 as part of the "Arsenal of Freedom" tour.[7][8][9]
The article’s phrase "space-based mission" refers to Rocket Lab’s core business: designing, manufacturing and operating rockets, satellites and other spacecraft for missions in Earth orbit and beyond. In military terms, Rocket Lab supports the U.S. armed forces and intelligence community by (1) launching classified and national‑security satellites, including multiple missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO); (2) providing launch services for U.S. Space Force and other DoD experiments, such as hypersonic and space‑test payloads; and (3) building entire constellations of defense satellites, notably an $816 million U.S. Space Development Agency contract to deliver 18 missile‑warning and tracking satellites for low‑Earth orbit.[8][9][10][11]
Yes. The Department of War/Defense has published an official news story titled "Hegseth Visits Space Company During 'Arsenal of Freedom' Tour" (distributed via its GovDelivery system), along with an official photo on Defense Department imagery servers and videos of his Los Angeles remarks. These include: (1) the war.gov news release reproduced in full in a GovDelivery email; (2) an official photo file of the visit hosted at media.defense.gov; and (3) "Hegseth Speaks During Arsenal of Freedom Tour" videos on war.gov and related DoD multimedia sites covering his Los Angeles stop.[12][13][14]
