Rocket Lab Corporation (Rocket Lab) operates as an end-to-end space company.
The company delivers reliable launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space.
As one of select few commercial companies delivering regular access to orbit, the company’s proven launch vehicle, spacecraft technology and global infrastructure uniquely positi...
Rocket Lab Corporation (Rocket Lab) operates as an end-to-end space company.
The company delivers reliable launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space.
As one of select few commercial companies delivering regular access to orbit, the company’s proven launch vehicle, spacecraft technology and global infrastructure uniquely position the company to grow in this dynamic market. Advances in technologies, materials and components have led to miniaturization of spacecraft and a significant reduction in cost and time-to-market, concurrent with the increase in demand for space applications, such as communications, remote sensing, Earth observation, meteorology and navigation. The company provides customers with frequent access to orbit for this new generation of small spacecraft with Electron, a fully carbon composite launch vehicle powered by Rutherford, its electric turbopump 3D printed engines. Since its first Electron launch in 2017 through December 31, 2024, the company has delivered over 200 spacecraft to space across 54 successful orbital missions for commercial and government customers, including the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DoD) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, (NASA) the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, (DARPA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and a number of domestic and international commercial spacecraft operators, including Blacksky Holdings, Canon, Kineis, Capella Space, Planet, OHB Group, and Synspective. In 2024, Electron was the second most frequently launched orbital rocket by companies operating in the United States and the second most frequent orbital launcher globally.
Rocket Lab’s frequent launch cadence has been enabled through innovative manufacturing techniques for Electron, including 3D printing and automation, but production is only part of the formula for frequent and reliable launch. It operates a private launch complex located in Mahia, New Zealand, which it refers to as Launch Complex 1 (LC-1). This launch complex is supported by a bi-lateral treaty between the United States and New Zealand governments that enables the company to use U.S. launch and spacecraft technology for launches at LC-1 that otherwise would not be permitted for launches from foreign soil. This treaty provides the company with a competitive advantage over other companies launching rockets from outside the U.S. that do not have the benefit of such a treaty. Additionally, by operating its own private launch complex, the company does not have to share the launch complex with other launch providers and, subject to obtaining required regulatory clearances for launches, it has complete control over launch schedule and availability. LC-1 serves as its high-volume launch complex, with two launch pads capable of supporting up to 120 missions every year. The company also operates a dedicated launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, at Wallops Island, Virginia, which it refers to as Launch Complex 2, (LC-2). LC-2 can support 24-hour rapid call-up capability for defense needs and urgent constellation replenishment and is licensed to launch 9 missions per year. The company is constructing a dedicated launch pad located at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, as a third launch complex, which it refers to as Launch Complex 3, (LC-3). LC-3 is being developed to receive and integrate Neutron launch vehicles to the Neutron launch pad.
Building on its strong foundation with Electron, the company is developing its Neutron launch vehicle. The company anticipates Neutron will have a payload capacity of approximately 15,000 kg for expendable launches to low Earth orbit and support lighter payloads for reusable configurations and into higher orbits. Neutron is tailored for large constellation deployments, interplanetary missions and potentially for human spaceflight.
Consistent with the company’s endeavor to provide end-to-end space solutions for the company’s customers, Rocket Lab has expanded beyond launch services into space systems, delivering spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space. The company’s Space Systems business utilizes its launch services, merchant spacecraft component offerings, spacecraft design services, its family of Photon spacecraft, partnerships with global ground network service providers, as well as its own ground station network, and on-orbit constellation management capabilities to provide customers a complete solution that encompasses spacecraft design, build, launch and on-orbit operations.
Customers
Launch Services: As of December 31, 2024, the company had launched and deployed 200 spacecraft for its customers, which includes government customers, such as the DoD, NASA and other U.S. government agencies. The company also provides launch services to major domestic and international commercial and government spacecraft operators. The company’s launch services have been used by more than 20 organizations.
Space Systems: As of December 31, 2024, the company had flight hardware and spacecraft that have flown on over 1,800 missions, including legacy missions enabled by Sinclair Interplanetary (acquired April 2020), Advanced Space Solutions, Inc (acquired October 2021), Planetary Space Corporation (acquired November 2021) and SolAero Technologies (acquired January 2022). The company’s Space systems solutions have been used by a diverse mix of commercial, aerospace prime contractors and government customers.
Growth Strategy
The company’s strategies include the following:
Leverage the company’s market position as the first U.S. commercially operational dedicated small orbital launch provider with NASA Category 1 certification and 54 successful launches and 200 spacecraft deployed as of December 31, 2024, to win increasing numbers of launch services contracts and be entrusted with higher value payloads to drive an increase in its average selling price of its launch services.
Continue to expand into new launch service verticals, such as Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE).
Expand its addressable launch market with the development of the medium-lift Neutron launch vehicle, where the additional lift capacity will enable significantly higher revenue per launch.
Apply manufacturing scaling and cost-reduction strategies to the production of the company’s spacecraft components and subsystems to capture large constellation design win opportunities and increasing market share.
Expand the company’s portfolio of strategic components for spacecraft by commercializing solutions developed for its launch vehicles and family of Photon spacecraft, including avionics subsystems, radios and batteries.
Leverage the company’s proven Photon spacecraft platform to provide streamlined hosted payload and technology demonstration capabilities in low Earth orbit to commercial and government customers without the need for customers to procure separately designed and built third-party spacecraft buses.
Build upon ongoing interplanetary spacecraft development efforts, as well as the company’s announced Neutron launch vehicle development, to expand its addressable market for interplanetary scientific and commercial missions.
Leverage the company’s frequency advantaged access to space, enabled by its established launch assets and proven capabilities, to further penetrate the available market for on-orbit constellation management and ultimately address the space applications market, representing the largest addressable market in the space economy.
Product & Services Overview
The company designs and manufactures small and medium-class rockets, spacecraft, spacecraft components, and flight and ground software to support the space economy. The company’s launch services are used to place spacecraft into Earth orbit, and escape trajectories. The company’s space systems are the building blocks for spacecraft, which includes composite structures, reaction wheels, star trackers, solar power solutions, radios, separation systems, and command and control spacecraft software. The company’s family of spacecraft product lines is configurable for a range of low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, geosynchronous orbit and interplanetary missions.
Launch Services: The company provides reliable and responsive launch services into low Earth orbit on Electron for spacecraft up to 300 kg. The company is also developing Neutron, a medium lift launch vehicle, which it expects will provide efficient constellation launch services for payloads up to 15,000 kg for expendable launches to low Earth orbit, and for lighter payloads into higher orbits. The company's facilities can support up to 120 launch opportunities every year from LC-1, which is the company's private launch complex in Mahia, New Zealand, and up to 9 launch opportunities every year from LC-2 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, at Wallops Island, Virginia.
Space Systems: The company provides spacecraft solutions for government and commercial customers, ranging from selling individual spacecraft components for use by customers in constructing their own spacecraft, to complete spacecraft design, manufacture, and on-orbit operations. With the company's end-to-end space systems, customers can procure launch services, spacecraft, ground services, and on-orbit management from one source, significantly streamlining their access to space.
Launch Services
The company designs, manufactures, and launches orbital and suborbital rockets to deploy payloads across a range of government and commercial missions from low Earth orbit to interplanetary destinations.
Electron is the company’s orbital small launch vehicle that was designed to accommodate a high launch cadence business model to meet the growing and dynamic needs of its customers for small spacecraft launch services. Combining the use of manufacturing technologies, including 3D printing and automation, Electron is optimized for rapid and frequent launch and has established itself as one of the most prolific and reliable orbital launch vehicles in the market. Since its maiden launch in 2017, Electron has become the leading small spacecraft launch vehicle delivering 200 spacecraft to orbit for government and commercial customers across 54 successful orbital missions through December 31, 2024. In 2024, Electron was the second most frequently launched orbital rocket by companies operating in the United States, and established Rocket Lab as the fourth most frequent orbital launcher globally. The company’s launch services program has seen it develop many industry-leading innovations, including 3D printed electric turbo-pump rocket engines, fully carbon composite fuel tanks, a private orbital launch complex, a kick stage that can be configured to convert into a highly capable spacecraft on orbit, and the potential ability to successfully recover a stage from space, providing a path to reusability.
Electron provides tailored access to orbit for the high-growth small spacecraft market across dedicated and rideshare missions. It is capable of deploying spacecraft of up to 300 kg to low Earth orbit across a wide range of orbital inclinations from 38 to 120 degrees from the company’s operational LC-1 in Mahia New Zealand and a wide range of orbital inclinations from 38 to 60 degrees from its operational LC-2 in Wallops Island, Virginia. Electron is also capable of delivering spacecraft to deep space and interplanetary destinations, a capability which the company successfully demonstrated with the launch of a NASA mission to the Moon in the support of the agency’s Artemis program, Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE). Electron has two primary stages and an innovative third kick stage, standing at 18 meters tall, with a diameter of 1.2 meters and a lift-off mass of approximately 14,000 kg. Electron’s design includes innovative use of avionics and electrical systems, and advanced carbon-composites for its structures and propellant tanks. Carbon-composite construction decreases mass by as much as 40 percent relative to other materials, contributing to Electron’s mass-to-orbit performance. The company’s in-house assembly of Electron’s composite tanks and structures improves cost efficiency and supports high rates of production. Electron’s kick stage enables the spacecraft to be placed in circular orbits, which is necessary for a spacecraft to maintain consistent altitude and is capable of engine restarts to deliver multiple payloads to a range of orbits, meeting precise orbit insertion requirements, and deorbiting to avoid contributing to orbital debris.
Electron is propelled by a total of ten Rutherford engines that the company manufactures at its headquarters in Long Beach, California. The Rutherford engine is a 5,600-lbf engine fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene fed by electric turbo-pumps and is based on a propulsion cycle that makes use of electric motors and high-performance lithium polymer batteries to drive fuel pumps. Electric turbo-pumps are lower complexity than the turbomachinery typically required for gas generator cycles, yet still achieve high efficiency.
Electron is launched from its private launch complex in Mahia, New Zealand and the company’s new launch complex at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, at Wallops Island, Virginia. As of December 31, 2024, Electron had successfully launched 54 times and deployed 200 spacecraft to orbit.
In March 2021, the company announced plans to develop its reusable-ready medium-capacity Neutron launch vehicle which will increase the payload capacity of its space launch vehicles to approximately 15,000 kg for expendable launches to low Earth orbit and lighter payloads for reusable configurations and into higher orbits. Neutron will be tailored for commercial and the U.S. government constellation launches and ultimately configurable for and capable of human space flight, enabling the company to provide crew and cargo resupply to the space Station. Neutron will also provide a dedicated service to orbit for larger civil, defense and commercial payloads that need a high level of schedule control and high-flight cadence. It expects to be able to leverage Electron’s flight heritage across various vehicle subsystems designs, launch complexes and ground station infrastructure.
The medium-lift Neutron will be a two-stage launch vehicle that stands 43 meters tall with 5.5-meter diameter fairings. Neutron will feature a reusable first stage designed to return to launch site as well as land on an ocean platform, enabling flexibility of use, higher launch cadence, and decreased launch costs for customers. Neutron launches are planned to take place from Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility.
Space Systems
The company provides components and services to the space economy, including spacecraft component solutions, design services, and spacecraft as a service from low Earth orbit constellations to deep space and interplanetary missions. The company entered this market with its acquisition of leading spacecraft components manufacturer Sinclair Interplanetary and has since expanded its market participation with the acquisitions of Planetary Systems Corporation, SolAero Holdings, Inc. and Advanced Solutions, Incorporated. The company's space systems initiatives are supported by the design and manufacture of its family of spacecraft product lines, along with a range of merchant market components, software, and services for spacecraft, including composite structures, reaction wheels, star trackers, radios, separation systems, solar power solutions, command and control software, high voltage space-grade batteries, and additional products in development. Each of these strategic acquisitions brought incremental vertically integrated capabilities for the company's own family of spacecraft, and also enabled Rocket Lab to deliver high-volume manufacturing of critical spacecraft components and software solutions at scale prices to the broader merchant market.
The company's family of spacecraft is configurable for a range of low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, geosynchronous orbit, and interplanetary missions. The company's versatile platforms can be configured to meet a broad range of customers’ requirements. Photon can be configured to operate as the upper stage of Electron (the kick stage) during launch, then with a simple command, transition into an operational spacecraft on orbit, eliminating the parasitic mass of deployed spacecraft, and enabling full use of the fairing volume for payloads. Photon can also fly on other launch vehicles, such as the company's in-development Neutron launch vehicle, third-party launchers, and as a secondary payload on rockets developed under the National Security Space Launch program of the U.S. Space Force. The company's family of spacecraft enables it to offer an end-to-end mission solution encompassing launch, full spacecraft manufacturing, ground services, and mission operations to provide customers with streamlined access to orbit, with Rocket Lab as a single mission partner.
The company's family of spacecraft can also be used to conduct space-related scientific research, collect imagery, and other remote-sensing data about the Earth, carry out lunar and other deep space planetary missions, and demonstrate new space technologies. The company's spacecraft can also be used in combination with Electron to deploy in different orbital locations and complete constellations in a single mission. The company's spacecraft are intended for commercial, defense, and civil government customers, including the DoD, NASA, other U.S. government agencies, and governments worldwide. The company's first Photon spacecraft was successfully launched and placed into service in August 2020, and a second operational Photon was successfully launched in March 2021. Photon was selected by NASA in 2021 for the CAPSTONE mission, a pathfinder for the lunar Gateway initiative of the Artemis program, which involves a mini-space station NASA intends to use as a staging point for crewed lunar landings. CAPSTONE was deployed on its ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon in July 2022, and in November 2022, it was inserted into its near rectilinear halo orbit as planned. The company's spacecraft have also been selected for interplanetary missions to Mars and Venus.
Rocket Lab’s space systems business also designs and manufactures a range of spacecraft components, including composite structures, reaction wheels, star trackers, radios, separation systems, solar power solutions, command and control software, high voltage space-grade batteries, and other products in development to serve a wide variety of missions.
Solar power solutions include a suite of vertically-integrated space solar cells, Coverglass Interconnected Cells (CICs), and panel products, each specifically designed for missions to low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, geosynchronous orbit, or interplanetary applications. Rocket Lab’s space solar cells, CICs, and panels are among the highest performing in the world, and support civil space exploration, science, defense and intelligence, and commercial markets.
Reaction wheels are motor-driven flywheels used to store angular momentum on spacecraft. Many spacecraft use three or four reaction wheels to provide agile, 3-axis pointing control. Some configurations use a single wheel, called a momentum wheel, for stable Earth-pointing control. All Rocket Lab reaction wheels incorporate an onboard digital processor with speed and torque control loops. Wheels are sized by their maximum angular momentum measured in Newton-meters (Nm). The company makes a large number of different wheel sizes, ranging from 3 mNms to 12 Nms. Bigger spacecraft require bigger and more costly wheels, with the determination of the correct size of wheel for a particular spacecraft requiring detailed engineering analysis.
Star trackers are optical sensors that determine a spacecraft’s pointing direction and rotation rate by looking at the stars. The company's star trackers are fully integrated units, incorporating the lens, detector, processor, and all of the power supply and support circuits. A catalog of more than two million possible star triangles is loaded into the device before launch, allowing the processor to determine the spacecraft’s pointing from any single image.
Power systems include both the high-capacity high-voltage batteries used to power the electric turbo-pumps in the Rutherford rocket engine used by Electron and other batteries used for small spacecraft.
Separation systems, including motorized lightbands and canisterized spacecraft dispensers (CSD), are used to separate spacecraft from launch vehicles in orbit. The motorized lightband is a ringed system with sizes ranging from 8 inches in diameter up to 39 inches in diameter. Lightbands deploy spacecraft via motors and a mechanical linkage. The CSD is a reliable housing for small spacecraft that protects spacecraft during launch and deploys them in space. Fully encapsulated, the CSD minimizes damage risk and eliminates the necessity for heavy or complicated interface structures between the spacecraft and launch vehicle platform.
Flight and Ground Software Services enable customer’s mission, providing total spacecraft command, guidance, navigation, control, ground station interface, and ground data system solutions.
Spacecraft Engineering and Design Services and On-Orbit Constellation Management Services
The company's space systems engineering team works with customers to develop, design, and manufacture full spacecraft solutions from low Earth orbit to interplanetary spacecraft. The company also offers constellation management services, where it performs command and control operations and leverages its ground station infrastructure and partnerships to deliver data to spacecraft constellation operators.
Sales, Business Development and Mission Management
The company sells its launch services and space systems through a unified global business development team that cross-sells launch and space systems, and leverages shared technical, proposal writing, mission project management, and administrative resources. This team is based primarily in the United States and focuses on government customers, such as the DoD, NASA, and other U.S. government agencies, as well as major domestic and international commercial spacecraft operators and spacecraft manufacturers. The business development team works closely with the company's engineering teams to develop optimal solutions for its customers. Given the well-defined and consolidated nature of the company's customer base, it is able to adequately address its market with a lean and focused team.
Many of the company's business development team members have previously worked for government agencies and large institutional space and technology companies. They have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the industry and can draw on a vast network of contacts to support business development. With 54 successful orbital missions and over 200 spacecraft deployed through December 31, 2024, and a growing number of Rocket Lab spacecraft components operating in orbit, the team has a high level of insight into customer requirements and evolving industry trends, putting the company in a strong position to ensure its products and services meet customer needs.
Marketing
The company utilizes strategic marketing to accelerate sales opportunities and build brand awareness. Rocket Lab has established a strong brand through various activities, including: conferences and industry events at which the company participates, sponsors, exhibits, and speaks; press releases and media engagement; social media postings; merchandising; cooperative marketing efforts with customers; and communicating the company's differentiated selling points and product features through marketing collateral such as its website, payload user guides, product data sheets, presentations, and high-quality launch webcasts and videos.
Engineering
The company has made significant investments in its engineering teams. The company’s members have a broad range of expertise from range of industries, including aerospace, automotive,and marine, and broader manufacturing and technology. Rocket Lab’s high level of vertical integration means that these engineering teams design and provide manufacturing support for components, sub-systems, and assemblies across the full range of the company's launch vehicles and spacecraft family. They support the full product lifecycle from new product innovation to sustaining engineering, including payload lift capacity increases and other performance improvements, to new product features, such as booster reusability and cost reduction initiatives.
The company’s engineering teams across New Zealand, the United States, and Canada address all key areas of launch vehicle build, payload integration, launch operations, ground segment communications, on-orbit spacecraft operations management, and spacecraft component design and manufacturing. Key areas of technical focus include composite structures, additive manufacturing, machining, avionics and power systems, propulsion assembly and test, spacecraft system design assembly and test, solar cell foundry through panel design and manufacturing, printed circuit-board design, optics integration, guidance and navigation, attitude direction and command and control, amongst other engineering focus areas.
These teams are supported by centralized planning and program management functions that guide significant projects across Rocket Lab for consistency and visibility. The company leverages sophisticated product lifecycle management software tools, computer-aided design systems and business processes to drive efficiency and better manage the entire product lifecycle, including designing, sourcing and building the products that enable its launch services and end-product deliveries.
Intellectual Property
As of December 31, 2024, the company held more than 200 issued U.S. patents and more than 90 issued foreign patents. The company’s U.S. issued patents expire between 2025 and 2042. As of December 31, 2024, the company held more than 12 registered trademarks in the United States, including the Rocket Lab mark; and also held approximately 20 registered trademarks in foreign jurisdictions.
Governmental Regulation
The company incurs costs to monitor and take actions to comply with governmental regulations that are applicable to its business, which include, among others, federal securities laws and regulations, applicable stock exchange requirements, export and import control, economic sanctions and trade embargo laws and restrictions and regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the New Zealand Space Agency and other government agencies in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand.
History
Rocket Lab Corporation was founded in 2006. The company was incorporated in 2013.
