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Rocket Lab Corporation is a Public company aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider. Its Electron orbital rocket launches Small satellite, and has launched 70 satellites as of August 2025; second only to SpaceX. A sub-orbital Electron variant called HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) serves other needs. The company also supplies satellite components including Star tracker, Reaction wheel, Solar cell, Satellite radio, separation systems, as well as flight and ground software recently secured upwards of 650 million dollars' worth of contracts.
The expendable Electron rocket first Rocket in May 2017. In August 2020, the company launched its first Photon satellite. The company built and operates satellites for the Space Development Agency, part of the United States Space Force. In May 2022, the company attempted to recover a returning Electron booster with a helicopter. In 2024, the company announced that a booster recovered on an earlier launch would be reused.
Rocket Lab was founded in New Zealand in 2006. By 2009, the successful launch of Ātea-1 made the organization the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach Outer space. The company established its headquarters in California in 2013. Rocket Lab acquired four companies, including Sinclair Interplanetary in April 2020, Advanced Solutions in December 2021, SolAero Holdings in January 2022, and Planetary Systems in December 2021. As of June 2024, the company had approximately 2,000 full-time permanent employees globally. Approximately 700 of these employees were based in New Zealand with the remainder in the United States. In August 2021, the company went Public company on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a SPAC merger.
The company became the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space after launching its Ātea-1 sounding rocket in November 2009. The payload was not recovered, and the launch was deemed unsuccessful. The payload was a ballistic instrumentation dart and its trajectory depended only on the boost phase. The launch took place off the coast of New Zealand, from the private island (Mercury Islands) of Michael Fay, a New Zealand banker and Rocket Lab investor.
In December 2010, the company was awarded a U.S. government contract from the Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) to study a low-cost space launcher to place into orbit. The agreement with NASA enabled the company to contract for limited NASA resources such as personnel, facilities, and equipment for commercial launch efforts.
In 2013, funding was obtained from Khosla Ventures, and Callaghan Innovation (a Crown entity of New Zealand). Bessemer Venture Partners invested in 2014 and Lockheed Martin invested in 2015. Rocket Lab announced in March 2017 that it had raised an additional US$75 million in a Venture round led by Data Collective with participation by Promus Ventures and earlier investors. In May 2017, Callaghan Innovation funding was reported to total NZ$15 million. In November 2018, the company reported raising a $150 million Venture round led by Future Fund. The first NASA mission, launched in 2018, was valued by the space agency at $6.9 million (with launch services, etc., included).
In 2018, Rocket Lab began to develop reusable first stage technology, after previously stating publicly that they had no intention of attempting to recover and reuse their launch vehicles. They disclosed the effort to study the potential recovery of an Electron first stage in August 2019, aiming to use a parachute and mid-air retrieval. In December 2019, they the reentry technology, a Rocket Lab proprietary aerothermal decelerator, on Electron flight number 10, and were able to decelerate the rocket and successfully bring it through the space to Stratosphere transition. In November 2022, Rocket Lab cut the ribbon on an engine test facility for the Archimedes engine at NASA Stennis Space Center.
In March 2020, the company announced that it had acquired Sinclair Interplanetary, a Canadian manufacturer of components for small satellites. Rocket Lab said that it would use Sinclair technology on its Photon line of small , and that it would help Sinclair increase production of small satellite components for sale to other firms. Thereafter, Rocket Lab launched missions with some or all of the payload being made by Sinclair Interplanetary.
The company began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange on 25 August 2021 after merging with SPAC Vector Acquisition at a $4.8 billion valuation. The transaction added $777 million in gross cash. At the time Rocket Lab had over 500 employees and it had successfully launched 105 satellites into orbit. Rocket Lab's launch business booked revenues of $13.5 million in 2018, $48 million in 2019 and an estimated $33 million in 2020. Rocket Lab spent somewhere between $250 million to $300 million of the cash gained from going public to develop Neutron. Rocket Lab aimed to launch Neutron by 2025.
As of August 2021, the company intended to build a new factory in the United States to build the rockets as well as launch infrastructure for Neutron at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia. In October 2021, the company acquired Advanced Solutions, Inc (ASI), a Colorado-based spacecraft flight software company. In November 2021, the company acquired Planetary Systems Corporation (PSC), a manufacturer of satellite separation systems for $81.4 million. In January 2022, the company acquired SolAero, a supplier of space solar power products.
On 3 May 2022, in the "There And Back Again" mission, the company launched its Electron rocket from New Zealand and attempted to recover it for the first time. It was able to capture the falling rocket booster in mid-air, a historic first. Peter Beck later said that the booster was hanging improperly, so it was allowed to parachute into the water where it was extracted by a ship.
In August 2022, the company revealed plans to become the first private company to reach Venus. The company is building a small probe, called the Venus Life Finder (VLF), which is designed to plunge through Venus's upper atmosphere for roughly five minutes between and above the planets' surface, searching for organic compounds. As of March 2025, the target launch date aboard the Electron rocket was the Summer of 2026.
In October 2023, Rocket Lab officially opened its engine development facility in Long Beach to support the development of the Archimedes engine. The facility, including production assets such as machinery and equipment, had been acquired in May 2023 out of Virgin Orbit's bankruptcy proceedings.
In January 2024, Rocket Lab became the prime contractor for a $515M USSF military satellite project, the company's largest contract to date.
In April 2024, the company announced it would begin selling carbon composite products to customers.
As of 2024, the company was developing the bigger Neutron reusable unibody rocket; multiple spacecraft buses, and : Rutherford, Curie, HyperCurie, and Archimedes. In mid 2024, the company entered the engine test phase in Neutron's development process.
In November 2024, news reports said the company threatened an academic in New Zealand with a defamation lawsuit for comments that Rocket Lab was involved with US military control over nuclear weapons.
In May 2025, Rocket Lab entered into an agreement to acquire Geost. This has increased their total headcount by 115 highly trained professionals bringing Rocket Lab’s total headcount to more than 2,600 employees.
On 21 January 2018, their second rocket, on a flight named "Still Testing", launched, reached orbit and deployed three CubeSat for customers Planet Labs and Spire Global. The rocket also carried a satellite payload called Humanity Star, a carbon fiber geodesic sphere made of 65 panels that reflect the Sun's light. Humanity Star re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up in March 2018. On 11 November 2018, the first commercial launch (third launch overall) took off from Māhia Peninsula carrying satellites for Spire Global, GeoOptics, a CubeSat built by high school students, and a prototype of a dragsail.
On 4 July 2020, an issue during the second-stage burn of flight 13, named "Pics or It Didn't Happen", caused Electron to fail to get into orbit and its payloads were lost. On 19 November 2020, a launch mission named "Return to Sender" successfully deployed its payload of 30 Small satellite. First stage recovery was also successfully implemented. On 15 May 2021, the company launched "Running Out Of Toes" which successfully used the first stage recovery method like the one used on "Return to Sender". However, the rocket failed to place its payload of two BlackSky satellites into orbit after an issue occurred with the second stage.
On 15 September 2022, Rocket Lab launched "The Owl Spreads Its Wings" mission, sending a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite into Earth orbit. On September 19, 2023, the Electron failed its mission to deliver a Capella Space synthetic-aperture radar imaging satellite when the rocket's second stage failed shortly after separation. Electron successfully returned to flight on December 14 with the launch of a Japanese radar imaging satellite, which marked a record 10th flight for the rocket in 2023.
Two attempts have been made to recover an Electron booster by helicopter. In addition, six attempts have been made at Splashdown.
HASTE has a payload capacity of , double that of Electron. It can deploy payloads from altitude and higher. In 2024, two HASTE launches were planned. As of November 2023 Rocket Lab had contracted for at least six HASTE missions.
Neutron launches are intended to take place from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on the eastern coast of Virginia. Rocket Lab is expected to modify the existing launch pad infrastructure at Launch Pad 0A (LP-0A). In March 2022, Rocket Lab announced that Neutron will be manufactured at a facility adjacent to MARS Launch Complex 2. Launch Complex 2 is currently being used for Electron launches. Rocket Lab began to break ground for this facility on 11 April 2022. As of March 2021, the company is planning for the first launch no earlier than mid-2025. In mid-2024, the company completed assembly on the first Archimedes engine, to undergo testing at Stennis Space Center, as well as some assembly on Neutron's fairings.
Ātea-1, named Manu Karere or Bird Messenger by the local Māori iwi, was successfully launched from Mercury Islands near Coromandel Peninsula on 30 November 2009 at 01:23 UTC (14:23 local time). The rocket was tracked by a GPS uplink to the Inmarsat satellite constellation. After the flight, Ātea-1 Splashdown approximately downrange. The payload had no Communication, but carried instrumentation. The payload was not recovered as it was a dart of no value. The company advised that should it be encountered by vessels at sea, the payload should not be handled as it was "potentially hazardous" and contained Instrumentation. Performance characteristics were determined by the boost stage using downlink telemetry, and was recovered. This allowed Rocket Lab to move the entire team to the Electron rocket.
The company's primary manufacturing facility is located in Huntington Beach, where rocket components are manufactured and assembled before traveling to the New Zealand Spaceport.
The manufacturing process begins with the production of the Electron rocket's first stage, which is built using carbon composite. The material is designed to be strong and lightweight.
Once the first stage is complete, it is transported to the New Zealand launch site, where the second stage and other components are added. The second stage is powered by a single Rutherford engine. The engine uses an electric pump-fed propulsion system.
Manufacturing the carbon composite components of the main flight structure has traditionally required 400 hours, involving extensive hand labor. In late 2019, Rocket Lab brought a new robotic manufacturing capability online to produce Electron's composite parts in 12 hours. The robot was named "Rosie the Robot", after The Jetsons character. The process can make all the carbon fiber structures as well as handle cutting, drilling, and sanding such that the parts are ready for final assembly. The company objective as of November 2019 was to reduce the overall Electron manufacturing cycle to seven days.
Rutherford engine production uses additive manufacturing.
In October 2023, Rocket Lab announced it had acquired carbon composite manufacturing facilities, equipment and more than 50 team members from SailGP Technologies in Warkworth, New Zealand. SailGP was already a supplier to Rocket Lab, so when SailGP announced plans to move operations to the UK, Rocket Lab took over the facilities and employees to support a growing production rate for the Electron rocket and the rapid development of Neutron.
In October 2023, Rocket Lab officially opened its Engine Development Center in Long Beach in the former Virgin Orbit factory, where the company now builds Rutherford and Archimedes engines.
In November 2023, Rocket Lab announced plans to establish a Space Structures Complex in Middle River, Maryland, deliver a comprehensive suite of advanced composite products for the space industry and to further vertically integrate supply for the company's internal needs across launch and space systems. The site will also play a role in the development and long-term supply of carbon composite structures for Neutron.
Through the acquisition of SolAero, Rocket Lab also has facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Through the acquisition of ASI, the company has facilities in Littleton, Colorado. Through the acquisition of Planetary Systems Corporation, the company has facilities in Maryland, and in Toronto, Canada through the acquisition of Sinclair Interplanetary. In September 2021, Rocket Lab announced it was expanding production of Reaction wheel with a new production line in Auckland to support production of up to 2,000 reaction wheels per year for an undisclosed mega-constellation customer.
The company originally planned to use Kaitorete Spit as their primary launch site and Mahia Peninsula as a secondary one. After encountering difficulty in obtaining resource consent for Kaitorete Spit launch site, Rocket Lab announced in November 2015 that its primary launch site would be on the Māhia Peninsula, east of Wairoa on the North Island. The site is licensed to launch rockets every 72 hours for 30 years. Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 (LC-1A) was officially opened on 26 September 2016 (UTC; 27 September NZDT). In December 2019, Rocket Lab began construction of a second pad on Māhia Peninsula named Launch Complex 1B. On 28 February 2022, Launch Complex 1B hosted its first launch: "The Owl's Night Continues".
LC-1 has been in operation since 2017 and has supported numerous launches for a variety of customers, including NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and commercial satellite operators. LC-1A was the first part of LC-1 and was introduced in 2017. The first launch supported from LC-1A was "It's a Test". LC-1B was added later in February 2022. "The Owl's Night Continues" was the first launch supported from LC-1B.
The first Electron launch from LC-2 happened on 24 January 2023 during the "Virginia is for launch lovers" mission, named in celebration of the launch. The launch placed three satellites in orbit. Two more missions were later launched from LC-2.
On 28 August 2025, LC-3 was officially opened with an official opening ceremony hosted directly at LC-3, with attendees such has Rocket Lab team members, founding staff and even official representatives including the Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin.
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