Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab signs a $190M block-buy for 20 HASTE hypersonic test flights, pushing total company backlog above $2B and launch backlog above 70 missions.

On July 22, 2026 the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command Rocket Systems Launch Program (RSLP) awarded Rocket Lab a $266M firm-fixed-price contract for 12 suborbital HASTE launches - with an option for six more - through 2028, with $112M in FY2025 funds obligated upfront. Rocket Lab confirmed the award on July 27, 2026, calling it the company's largest launch contract to date; the missions will fly primarily from a new fourth launch pad at the Pacific Spaceport Complex - Alaska (Kodiak), complementing Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and Launch Complexes 2 and 3 in Virginia, with the first Kodiak launch expected no earlier than the end of 2026. RKLB shares rose more than 5% in premarket trading on the news. The award builds on the March 2026 $190M, 20-flight HASTE block-buy and deepens Rocket Lab's lead in hypersonic test launch.

Rocket Lab reports record Q1 revenue of $200.3M, backlog above $2.2B, 31 new Electron and HASTE contracts, and five dedicated Neutron launches for a confidential customer.

On February 26, 2026 Rocket Lab completes the acquisition of Optical Support, Inc. (OSI), adding 20 staff and 22,000 sq/ft of precision optomechanical machining and integration capacity to Rocket Lab Optical Systems.

On April 14, 2026 Rocket Lab completes the acquisition of Munich-based Mynaric AG for $155.3M, adding CONDOR Mk3 laser optical communications terminals and establishing Rocket Lab's first European footprint as Rocket Lab Europe.

On May 7, 2026 Rocket Lab agrees to support Raytheon's prototype work on the U.S. Space Force's Space-Based Interceptor program under the Golden Dome missile-defense initiative - a proliferated low-Earth-orbit constellation of kinetic interceptors for boost, midcourse, and glide-phase intercept. Raytheon is one of 12 primes sharing up to $3.2B in Space Systems Command Other Transaction Authority awards; Rocket Lab is a subcontractor/technology partner targeting an initial capability demonstration in 2028.

On May 26, 2026 Rocket Lab completes the acquisition of Motiv Space Systems, adding Mars-proven robotic arms, actuators, and solar array drive assemblies - closing a key vertical-integration gap and positioning Rocket Lab for end-to-end Mars missions.

On May 21, 2026 Rocket Lab is awarded a $90M Space Systems Command contract to design, build, integrate, and operate two geostationary satellites hosting the Heimdall space domain awareness payload - Rocket Lab's first satellite production program for GEO.

On June 1, 2026, four Rocket Lab executives and directors file Form 4 sales totaling about $18M after RKLB notched eight record-high closes in May, led by director Alexander Slusky's $8.96M disposition of 60,000 shares and a $513,345 sale by President Brad Clevenger; COO Frank Klein and General Counsel Arjun Kampani also unload stock under prearranged 10b5-1 plans.

On May 27, 2026 Rocket Lab announces it has cleared the System Requirements Review for the Space Development Agency's Tracking Layer Tranche 3 (TRKT3) missile-warning and tracking constellation, establishing the technical baseline for the 18-satellite, $816M program built on Rocket Lab's Lightning bus with in-house IR sensors, optical communication terminals, Ka-band payloads, solar arrays, avionics, and propulsion. The milestone takes Rocket Lab's total SDA awards above $1.3B alongside the earlier $515M Transport Layer-Beta Tranche 2 program.

Rocket Lab appoints Agostino Ricupati as its new Chief Accounting Officer, effective June 3, 2026, as the company scales its finance organization to support a $2.2B backlog, Neutron development, and a recent run of acquisitions (Mynaric, Motiv, OSI) that has materially expanded reporting complexity.

Rocket Lab joined the Nasdaq-100 Index - the 100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq - before the market open on Monday, June 22, 2026, after announcing the inclusion on June 12. CEO Sir Peter Beck framed it as recognition of the company's journey 'from a small company with big ambitions to a global space leader,' making Rocket Lab one of only a handful of pure-play space companies in a major U.S. large-cap index.

In mid-June 2026 Rocket Lab successfully flew its hypersonic HASTE vehicle on the 'Curveball' mission from Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Island, Virginia - its 9th HASTE flight and 89th mission overall. The flight kept Rocket Lab's 100% mission success streak intact and advanced its government hypersonic test backlog under the MACH-TB 2.0 program.

On June 19, 2026 Rocket Lab launched the U.S. Space Force's VICTUS HAZE mission on Electron from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand just 16 hours and 42 minutes after receiving the Notice to Launch - shattering the previous Space Force order-to-launch record by more than 10 hours. For the Space Systems Command Space Safari Program Office, Rocket Lab delivered its own Pioneer spacecraft to orbit, becoming the first single prime contractor to provide the spacecraft, launch vehicle, and on-orbit operations for a Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) mission. On July 7, 2026 Rocket Lab declared the mission a complete success: Pioneer was fully commissioned in 38 hours (against a 72-hour deadline) and completed on-orbit rendezvous and proximity operations - tracking and photographing a target satellite - in under 59 hours, 25 hours ahead of schedule.

On June 24, 2026 NASA selected Rocket Lab to fly three Electron missions: two back-to-back launches for the PolSIR ice-cloud CubeSat mission (no earlier than June 2027) and one for the TSIS-2 solar-irradiance satellite (early 2027), all from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. NASA cited Electron's flight heritage across more than 90 launches and its deployment accuracy, adding to Rocket Lab's government launch backlog.

On June 26, 2026 Rocket Lab launched its 'Ten Owl of Ten' Electron mission from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, delivering Synspective's 10th Strix synthetic-aperture-radar satellite to a roughly 552-km low Earth orbit at 42 degrees inclination. It was Rocket Lab's 12th Electron launch of 2026 and kept its recent mission-success streak intact. The flight continued a dedicated multi-launch deal with Synspective, which has another 17 Electron missions booked to complete its SAR constellation by the end of the decade.

On June 29, 2026 Rocket Lab announced a definitive agreement to acquire satellite-communications operator Iridium Communications for $54.00 per share - roughly half cash and half Rocket Lab stock, about a 24% premium and an enterprise value of approximately $8B. The deal folds Iridium's operational 66-satellite L-band low-Earth-orbit constellation, globally harmonized spectrum, ~2.55 million government, defense, aviation, and maritime subscribers, $871M of 2025 revenue, and 500-plus partner ecosystem into Rocket Lab's launch and satellite-manufacturing stack, creating a vertically integrated design–build–launch–operate space company positioned as a SpaceX/Starlink challenger. Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo committed a $3.6B bridge loan for the cash portion. Both boards unanimously approved; the transaction is expected to close in mid-2027, subject to Iridium stockholder and regulatory approvals.

On August 6, 2026 Rocket Lab launched 'The Grain Goddess Provides' from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand - more than five weeks after a June 30 last-second abort pushed the mission back - deploying iQPS' 100 kg QPS-SAR-13 (MIKURA-I) synthetic-aperture-radar satellite to a 575 km circular low Earth orbit. It was Rocket Lab's 92nd mission overall and 13th Electron flight of 2026, its eighth launch for iQPS toward that customer's planned 36-satellite constellation, keeping the company on track for its 100th launch in 2026.

On July 30, 2026 Japan's iQPS signed its third multi-launch deal with Rocket Lab in under a year for three more dedicated Electron missions, each deploying a QPS-SAR satellite to a 575 km LEO from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, starting in late 2027. The deal lifts iQPS's total Electron bookings to 18 and helped RKLB shares rally roughly 10% intraday, rebounding from a dip earlier in the week.

On August 4, 2026 the U.S. Space Force awards Rocket Lab a $397M contract, with an option for additional units, under the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program. Rocket Lab will build, launch on its still-unflown Neutron rocket, and operate multiple 'Flatellite' satellites carrying space-based sensors and low-latency, high-bandwidth links to detect and track airborne threats in real time - an end-to-end award spanning spacecraft, launch, and mission operations that adds to Neutron's pre-debut backlog.

On August 10, 2026 Rocket Lab reported record Q2 revenue of $234M (+62% YoY) and record backlog of $2.36B, with adjusted EBITDA loss of $8.8M beating guidance, though a wider-than-expected GAAP loss per share sent shares lower after hours. The same day, Rocket Lab unveiled GHOST, a containerized Deployable Launch System that packages complete rockets, ground infrastructure, and range control to give Electron and HASTE launch-anywhere responsive capability; the first GHOST site, Launch Complex 4, will stand up two pads at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska.

On August 10, 2026 Rocket Lab establishes Rocket Lab Germany GmbH, a new wholly-owned subsidiary building on the Mynaric (Munich) acquisition to scale satellite and component manufacturing, and eventually Electron and Neutron launch services, for European sovereign-space demand.

On August 10, 2026 Rocket Lab signs its first dedicated (non-rideshare) Neutron mission for Kepler Communications, launching from Launch Complex 3 at Wallops Island no earlier than 2028 to deploy multiple satellites expanding Kepler's optical-connectivity and on-orbit-compute constellation.

The Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period for Rocket Lab's roughly $8B acquisition of Iridium Communications expired August 12, 2026, and on August 13 Rocket Lab filed a Form S-4 registration statement with the SEC to register the securities Iridium shareholders will receive at closing. Rocket Lab and Iridium had already filed FCC applications on August 10 to transfer control of Iridium's satellite licenses, and Rocket Lab said its capital strategy - including a new at-the-market equity program - remains underway to reduce its $3.6B bridge loan commitment; the deal remains on track for a mid-2027 close.

The first 8 of 17 satellite platforms Rocket Lab is building for MDA Space under a $143M deal launched August 15 from Cape Canaveral and reached orbit, with all eight confirmed performing nominally and generating power as commissioning began. The 500 kg platforms, a tailored version of Rocket Lab's Lightning bus built at its Long Beach headquarters, will extend Globalstar's direct-to-device and IoT mobile satellite service.

On August 17, 2026 Rocket Lab was onboarded to the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command's NITE-STAR (Innovative Technology & Engineering - Space Test and Range) contract, a $981M-ceiling, ten-year IDIQ vehicle to develop modernized space test and training infrastructure, alongside more than a dozen other companies including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris. The award makes Rocket Lab eligible to compete for future task orders; it does not itself guarantee revenue.

On August 18, 2026 the U.S. Space Force selected Rocket Lab for its Space Data Network (SDN) Consortium and competitively awarded two delivery orders totaling $12M - roughly $10M to demonstrate that Rocket Lab satellites can move data across rival vendors' systems via secure optical inter-satellite links, plus about $2M to develop 'Space Exchange Point' satellites acting as orbital routers between commercial and government networks. Rocket Lab is one of five companies selected, alongside Amazon Leo for Government, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and York Space Systems, and plans a live space demonstration in 2027 using its Photon spacecraft.

On August 21, 2026 (NZST) Rocket Lab launched 'The Lightning God Defends' from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, deploying iQPS' 9th QPS-SAR synthetic-aperture-radar satellite to a 575 km circular low Earth orbit. It was Rocket Lab's 93rd mission overall and 14th Electron flight of 2026, keeping its mission-success streak intact and the company on track for its 100th launch in 2026. Nine more dedicated Electron missions remain booked by iQPS to complete its constellation by 2030.

On August 13, 2026 Rocket Lab announced a replacement equity distribution agreement with Deutsche Bank Securities and Wells Fargo Securities for an at-the-market program to sell up to roughly $1.94B of common stock, carrying forward the unsold capacity from a prior May 2026 agreement. Rocket Lab intends to use the proceeds to help fund the cash portion of the pending Iridium Communications acquisition and reduce its $3.6B committed bridge loan facility.

The Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period for the Iridium acquisition expired August 12, 2026, and Rocket Lab filed a Form S-4 registration statement (later amended) with the SEC to register the securities Iridium shareholders will receive. Per the amended S-4, Iridium stockholders are scheduled to vote on the merger at a virtual special meeting on September 24, 2026, with a record date of August 21, 2026 (105,981,552 Iridium shares outstanding and entitled to vote). Closing remains expected in mid-2027, subject to that vote plus regulatory and Nasdaq-listing conditions.

On August 19, 2026 Rocket Lab announced its Robotics division (built on the Motiv Space Systems acquisition) engineered and supplied the single-axis instrument gimbal mechanism for EMILIA-3D, a University of Arizona-led lunar terrain-mapping instrument selected for a NASA Artemis mission, positioning and actuating an infrared camera to build 3D thermal models of the lunar surface.

By the week of August 23, 2026, Rocket Lab's Archimedes engines had accumulated more than 400 hot-fire tests across the reusable first-stage and vacuum-optimized second-stage variants at NASA's Stennis Space Center, confirming control and durability through repeated restarts. The full nine-engine flight set required for Neutron's maiden launch entered production, while Stage 1 moved into final assembly, the interstage completed its load-testing campaign, and Stage 2 neared shipment to Wallops after finishing fluids and avionics integration.

Around August 26-27, 2026 the SEC declared Rocket Lab's Form S-4 registration statement for the Iridium Communications acquisition effective and Rocket Lab filed the final Form 424B3 prospectus. Iridium's definitive proxy statement/prospectus (DEFM14A) went out to Iridium stockholders ahead of their September 24, 2026 virtual special meeting (record date August 21, 2026) to vote on the merger. Several Rocket Lab executives, including COO Frank Klein and CFO Adam Spice, separately filed Form 4s reporting a combined ~$5.49M in share sales that week, largely tied to vesting tax obligations.

Around August 28, 2026 SpaceX filed comments with the FCC asking the agency to examine Iridium Communications' conduct as it reviews license transfers for Rocket Lab's pending roughly $8 billion acquisition. SpaceX satellite policy associate Matthew Turk said Iridium had filed more than 50 petitions in eight months seeking to block or restrict rival satellite deployments, including next-generation Starlink gateways that share spectrum with Iridium, while adding that SpaceX does not oppose the transaction itself. Iridium stockholders are scheduled to vote on the merger on September 24, 2026; RKLB shares fell about 6% after the filing.

On September 2, 2026 at 12:01 UTC Rocket Lab launched 'Owl Around the World' from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, deploying a Synspective StriX synthetic-aperture-radar satellite to a 575 km low Earth orbit about 56 minutes after liftoff. It was Rocket Lab's 94th Electron mission and its 11th dedicated launch for Synspective, which has 16 more Electron flights booked to finish the constellation by the end of the decade. The flight had been delayed from August 31 by high-altitude winds.

Rocket Lab flies a record 21 Electron and HASTE missions with 100% mission success in 2025 and wins an $816M prime contract to build 18 missile-warning and tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency.

Rocket Lab successfully hot fires the reusable Archimedes engine, a major technical step toward Neutron's first flight.

Successfully catches an Electron first stage mid-air with a helicopter.

Rocket Lab lists on NASDAQ under ticker RKLB via a SPAC merger.

Electron reaches orbit on its second flight, "Still Testing," carrying commercial payloads.

Electron's maiden flight "It's a Test" from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.

Peter Beck founds Rocket Lab in Auckland, New Zealand.