Rocket Lab Corporation announced Monday it has been awarded a $266 million multi-launch contract with the U.S. Space Force, the largest launch contract in the company's history.
The deal, awarded by the Space Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program, covers 12 suborbital launches with options for up to 6 more
Cheng Xin / Getty Images
Rocket Lab Corporation announced Monday it has been awarded a $266 million multi-launch contract with the U.S. Space Force, the largest launch contract in the company's history.
Under the contract, awarded by the Space Force Space Systems Command's Rocket Systems Launch Program, Rocket Lab is tasked with 12 suborbital launches supporting missile defense capabilities, with the option to order as many as six more, the company said. The first launch under the contract is expected no earlier than the end of 2026.
Rocket Lab said the majority of missions will fly from a new facility it is establishing at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska. The company also operates launch sites at Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and at Launch Complex 2 and Launch Complex 3 in Virginia.
"The size and scale of this contract reflects the Space Force's confidence in our ability to meet their urgent national security demands with speed, responsiveness, and scale, and we're proud to provide the high-frequency launch capacity required to keep the U.S. ahead of global threats," Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck said in a statement.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon awarded Rocket Lab a $190 million contract tied to hypersonic flight testing, according to the Wall Street Journal. Rocket Lab has also partnered with defense firm RTX on Golden Dome, the proposed U.S. space-based missile-defense architecture.
Rocket Lab's push into national security launches comes as the company has been expanding beyond its launch services roots. Last month, Rocket Lab agreed to acquire Iridium Communications in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $8 billion, which would give it control over Iridium's 66-satellite low-Earth orbit network, globally licensed L-band spectrum, and more than 2.55 million subscribers spanning government, defense, aviation, maritime, and commercial markets. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2027, pending stockholder and regulatory approvals.
The Iridium acquisition would position Rocket Lab to compete more directly with SpaceX and its Starlink unit, which pairs launch services with a satellite communications business. Rocket Lab posted record first-quarter revenue of $200.3 million, a 63.5% increase from a year earlier, and ended the quarter with a backlog of $2.2 billion.
Rocket Lab stock rose 4.74% on Monday.
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