Last Updated: 19 April 2026
Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ: RKLB) is an end-to-end space company that started out in New Zealand in 2006 as a small-launch specialist and has since rebuilt itself into a vertically integrated space infrastructure and defence prime. It operates the Electron small-lift rocket, a rapidly growing Space Systems division that sells spacecraft, components, payloads and satellite services, and is developing the medium-lift reusable Neutron rocket aimed at the same class of missions SpaceX flies with Falcon 9. The company sits at the intersection of three large secular trends: proliferated low-Earth-orbit constellations, US missile-defence build-out under the Golden Dome architecture, and a push by Western governments to reduce dependence on a single launch provider.
1. Company Snapshot
| Full name | Rocket Lab Corporation |
| Ticker | RKLB (NASDAQ) |
| Sector / Industry | Defence & Aerospace / Space Launch & Systems |
| Founded | 2006 (New Zealand) |
| Headquarters | Long Beach, California (US HQ); operations in New Zealand, Virginia, Maryland, Colorado, Tucson, Munich |
| CEO / Founder | Sir Peter Beck |
| Market cap (Apr 2026) | ~$44-45bn |
| Revenue (FY2025) | $601.8m (+38% YoY) |
| Net income (FY2025) | Net loss (loss-making; non-GAAP FCF use of $165.5m) |
| Employees | Approx. 2,600+ (pre-Mynaric); higher post-acquisition |
| Listing | NASDAQ (Global Select Market) |
| Website | rocketlabcorp.com |
Corporate note: On 23 May 2025 Rocket Lab USA, Inc. completed a holding-company reorganisation. The operating business is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rocket Lab Corporation; the ticker RKLB is unchanged.
2. Bull Case vs Bear Case
Bull Case
- Record revenue growth and backlog: FY2025 revenue of $602m was up 38% year-on-year, and the contracted backlog grew 73% to $1.85bn. Management guided Q1 2026 revenue of $185-200m, implying ~57% year-on-year growth at the midpoint.
- Deep defence exposure: Over $1.3bn of signed SDA contracts (Tranche 2 Transport $515m, Tranche 3 Tracking $816m plus options), a $190m HASTE hypersonic test contract, and approved prime-vendor status under the SHIELD IDIQ for the Golden Dome missile-defence architecture.
- Strong cash position: $828.7m cash plus $270.2m marketable securities at year-end 2025, convertible notes reduced to $152.4m, and further equity raised through a ~$474m ATM issuance completed in April 2026 (plus up to ~$642m in forward-collared trades). Management has quantified runway of more than three years at current burn.
- Vertical integration and diversification: In 2026 Rocket Lab unveiled the in-house Gauss Hall-effect thruster with a production line sized for 200 units per year, closed the $155.3m Mynaric laser-communications acquisition (giving it a European base), and continues to integrate Geost EO/IR sensor payloads acquired in 2025.
- Only Western company outside SpaceX with a consistent monthly launch cadence: 21 Electron/HASTE launches in 2025 with 100% mission success, back-to-back launches across hemispheres in under 48 hours, and 75+ cumulative Electron missions.
Bear Case
- Neutron slip and execution risk: First Neutron flight has been pushed from December 2025 to Q4 2026 after a first-stage tank failed during testing. Launch-window paperwork targets July-December 2026, but the Archimedes engine is still in a qualification campaign at NASA Stennis. Any further slip pushes out the revenue ramp investors are paying for.
- Cash burn still heavy: Non-GAAP free cash flow was a use of $114.2m in Q4 2025 alone and $165.5m for the year. Management has told investors to expect Q1 2026 to mark peak Neutron R&D spend and continued negative FCF through the year.
- Dilution: The company has raised more than $1.15bn through ATM offerings during 2025-2026, and 7.45m shares are subject to forward-collared transactions. Mynaric was paid partly in Rocket Lab stock, and Geost added about 3m shares. Share count has grown materially.
- Concentration risk on US defence spending: A rising share of backlog is tied to SDA, DoD and allied programmes. Any cut to Golden Dome funding, a change in Pentagon priorities, or contract re-scoping would hit the highest-margin growth lever.
- Valuation baked in for perfection: At ~$84 and ~$44bn market cap, RKLB trades at roughly 50-60x trailing sales on a company that is still loss-making. Any miss on Neutron, margin, or backlog conversion (management says ~37% of backlog converts to revenue within 12 months) carries a large downside asymmetry.
3. What Does This Company Actually Do?
Rocket Lab earns money in two reported segments, but in practice sells four things: rockets, satellites, satellite parts, and on-orbit services.
Launch Services
The Electron rocket is a small-lift expendable launcher that carries roughly 300 kg to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab sells dedicated launches, rideshare slots and, via the suborbital HASTE variant, hypersonic flight-test services to the US Department of Defense. In 2025 Rocket Lab flew 21 missions (18 orbital Electron and 3 HASTE) with 100% mission success, and Electron ended the year with 75 cumulative successful orbital missions out of 79 attempts.
Space Systems
This is the larger and faster-growing part of the business. It includes:
- Complete satellite buses and spacecraft (the Photon, Explorer and Lightning platforms, used on NASA, commercial and defence programmes).
- Satellite subsystems: solar panels, reaction wheels, star trackers, separation systems, radios, flight software and – from 2026 – the Gauss Hall-effect thruster.
- National-security payloads: EO/IR sensors from the Geost acquisition (closed August 2025 for $275m), used in missile-warning, ISR and space-domain-awareness missions.
- Laser optical communications terminals via Mynaric, closed April 2026 for $155.3m, including the CONDOR Mk3 OCT used on 36 spacecraft Rocket Lab is building for SDA.
Customers
The customer mix has tilted sharply toward government and national security in the last 24 months. Known customers span commercial operators (iQPS, BlackSky, Kinéis, Synspective, Capella), US civil agencies (NASA, NOAA), US defence customers (SDA, Space Force, Department of the Army, Missile Defense Agency, Kratos prime contracts), and allied agencies. The Mynaric deal adds European defence exposure and gives Rocket Lab its first EU headquarters in Munich.
Geographic split
The majority of revenue is US-based, with a meaningful share from the New Zealand production and launch operations (Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula). The Mynaric acquisition formally establishes "Rocket Lab Europe" and is likely to start contributing European revenue from 2026 onward.
4. The Business Model
Rocket Lab earns money through contracted hardware and launch services, not subscriptions. Launches are typically firm fixed-price; Space Systems work ranges from unit sales of components to multi-hundred-million prime-contract builds of full satellite constellations. The Geost and Mynaric deals added payload and laser-comms revenue that is typically milestone-based.
Margins (FY2025)
| Q4 2025 GAAP gross margin | 38% |
| Q4 2025 non-GAAP gross margin | 44.3% (record) |
| Q1 2026 guided GAAP gross margin | 34-36% |
| Q1 2026 guided non-GAAP gross margin | 39-41% |
| Operating margin | Still negative – company is loss-making at operating and net income levels |
Asset intensity
Asset-heavy. Rocket Lab owns launch pads (LC-1 in New Zealand, LC-2 at Wallops Island, LC-3 at Wallops for Neutron), engine test stands, spacecraft clean rooms, and manufacturing plants across California, Maryland, Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, New Zealand and (post-Mynaric) Germany. Capex is elevated while Neutron and its production line come on stream.
Competitive moat
- Reliability record with Electron in a market where a single failure can ground a programme for months.
- Vertical integration – engines, avionics, structures, satellites, payloads and now thrusters and laser terminals all in-house.
- Security clearances and classified programme experience – a slow-to-replicate moat for defence work.
- Two of only a handful of operational spaceports in the US aligned to a single commercial operator.
Supply-chain and subsidy dependence
Rocket Lab is not primarily a subsidy-dependent business in the EV/solar-credit sense. However, a meaningful share of growth comes from US government programmes (SDA, DoD, NASA, MDA) and Congressional appropriations. The FY26 US defence bill that unlocked billions for Golden Dome and restored SDA Tranche 3 funding is a direct top-line driver. In contrast to a typical regulatory-credit business, there is no separate line-item "tax credit" supporting profitability today; rather, Rocket Lab's forward revenue depends on the US Congress and Pentagon continuing to fund Golden Dome, the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture and hypersonic test programmes at current levels.
5. Financial Health
Revenue trend
| Period | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $62.2m | – |
| FY2022 | $211m | +239% |
| FY2023 | $244.6m | +16% |
| FY2024 | $436.2m | +78% |
| FY2025 | $601.8m | +38% |
| Q1 2026 (guided) | $185-200m | +~57% at mid-point |
Profitability and cash
| Q4 2025 revenue | $180m (record) |
| Q4 2025 non-GAAP free cash flow | Use of $114.2m |
| FY2025 non-GAAP FCF | Use of ~$165.5m |
| Cash & equivalents (31 Dec 2025) | $828.7m |
| Marketable securities | $270.2m |
| Total liquidity | ~$1.1bn pre-ATM; further ~$474m added in April 2026 |
| Convertible notes outstanding | $152.4m (reduced) |
| Total debt | ~$154m |
| Shareholder equity | ~$1.7bn |
| Debt / equity | ~9% |
| Backlog (31 Dec 2025) | $1.85bn (+73% YoY) |
Burn rate and runway
On 2025's burn of roughly $165m per year, the cash stack plus the April 2026 ATM proceeds implies a cash runway comfortably in excess of three years, even before any revenue uplift from Neutron or Golden Dome contract milestones. Management has stated Q1 2026 is expected to be the peak quarter for Neutron R&D spending.
Share count and dilution
Shares outstanding are approximately 534 million (up from ~478m pre-ATM programme). During 2025-2026, Rocket Lab raised over $1.15bn through at-the-market equity programmes (approximately $474m in the April 2026 tranche alone, plus 7.45m shares sold under collared forward sale agreements with minimum expected proceeds of ~$474m and maximum of ~$642m). The Mynaric deal was settled with 2.3m shares and a "nominal" cash component; the Geost deal included approximately 3.06m shares. Stock-based compensation is ongoing. Dilution is a real risk to model.
Capex and R&D focus
Capex is dominated by Neutron: Archimedes engine hardware, test facilities at NASA Stennis, LC-3 pad infrastructure at Wallops (including a 700-tonne launch mount and a 757,000-litre water tower), and production capacity scaling. Beyond Neutron, investment is flowing into the Gauss thruster line, the Mynaric integration, and expanded spacecraft production capacity for SDA deliveries.
Dividend
None. Rocket Lab does not pay a dividend and has given no indication of starting one.
6. Valuation & Market Data
Data as of 18-19 April 2026 (sourced from Yahoo Finance, Finviz, Stock Analysis, Fintel and company disclosures).
| Price | ~$84.42 (18 April 2026 close range $82.45-$86.99) |
| 52-week high | $99.58 |
| 52-week low | $18.21 |
| Position in 52-week range | ~81% of the range |
| Market cap | ~$44-45bn |
| Shares outstanding | ~534.2m |
| Enterprise value (approx.) | ~$43-44bn (cash > debt) |
| P/E (trailing) | Not meaningful – company is loss-making |
| P/S (trailing) | ~73x on FY2025 revenue of $602m (at ~$44bn cap) |
| P/S (forward, on guided annualised Q1 2026) | ~55-60x at midpoint |
| EV/EBITDA | Not meaningful – negative EBITDA |
| Price / free cash flow | Not meaningful – negative FCF |
| Short interest | ~4.4% of float (most recent reporting) |
| Days to cover | Low – liquidity is very high |
| Put/Call ratio | Elevated options activity through 2025-26; exchange data swings daily. Check live feed before trading. |
These numbers change daily. Verify on a live feed before trading. You can track RKLB alongside the broader space-sector basket on our Live Charts.
7. What Are They Building / What's Coming?
Neutron medium-lift rocket
Neutron is the single biggest forward catalyst. It is a partially reusable, methane/LOX, 43-metre rocket designed to place 13,000 kg in LEO (15,000 kg expendable) and up to 1,500 kg to Mars or Venus – a direct competitor to SpaceX Falcon 9. Management has confirmed the first flight slipped from December 2025 to Q4 2026 following a first-stage tank test failure. In April 2026 Rocket Lab filed launch permit paperwork covering a 1 July – 31 December 2026 launch window. The first flight vehicle is slated to ship to LC-3 at Wallops in Q1 2026 for stage-level static fires before integration and launch. Archimedes engine testing is running 20 hours a day, 7 days a week at NASA Stennis; CEO Peter Beck has said the engine design is "pretty stable" and meeting performance criteria. The "Hungry Hippo" composite payload fairing has been qualified.
Defence and national-security pipeline
- SDA Tranche 3 Tracking Layer: $806m firm-fixed-price OTA base plus up to $10.45m in options, to build 18 missile-warning and -tracking satellites. Including sub-system merchant supply into other primes, Rocket Lab has framed potential capture as up to ~$1bn.
- SDA Tranche 2 Transport Layer Beta: $515m contract (awarded January 2024) for 18 satellites, now in build.
- HASTE hypersonics: $190m, 20-launch contract for the MACH-TB 2.0 programme, serving Navy Conventional Prompt Strike, Army Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, MDA and Air Force hypersonic efforts. Seven HASTE missions already flown.
- Golden Dome: Rocket Lab is an approved prime vendor under the SHIELD IDIQ – the principal procurement vehicle for the Golden Dome missile-defence shield being stood up by the US.
Products and subsystems
- Gauss Hall-effect thruster (unveiled 14 April 2026 at the Space Symposium) – in-house electric propulsion, production line sized for 200 units per year, designed for constellation operators and national-security customers. Uses xenon or krypton propellant and heaterless cathode technology.
- Mynaric CONDOR Mk3 laser comms terminals – already baselined into 36 satellites Rocket Lab is building for SDA.
- Geost EO/IR payloads – integrated into defence bids for missile warning, ISR and space-domain-awareness missions.
Management guidance (most recent call, 26 February 2026)
- Q1 2026 revenue $185-200m.
- Q1 2026 GAAP gross margin 34-36%, non-GAAP 39-41%.
- Q1 2026 GAAP operating expenses $120-126m, non-GAAP $106-112m.
- Q1 2026 expected to be the peak quarter for Neutron R&D spend.
- Continued negative non-GAAP free cash flow through 2026 tied to Neutron development.
- Approximately 37% of the current backlog expected to convert to revenue within 12 months.
CEO and executive commentary on X / public platforms
Peter Beck's X account (@Peter_J_Beck) has been used to share test milestones, launch imagery and strategic commentary. In late 2025 and early 2026 he has publicly stated that Neutron is "on track" for Q4 2026 subject to Archimedes completing "nasty" engine-qualification tests, and has framed the company as "a broader space infrastructure platform" in which Neutron is "mission enabling, but not mission critical" for the next 12-24 months of growth. These statements are consistent with the company's earnings-call narrative but, as always with X posts, should be treated as management colour rather than legally binding commitments.
8. Competitive Landscape
Rocket Lab competes across three overlapping markets: small-lift launch, medium-lift launch (from 2026-27), and space-systems / satellite manufacturing.
Launch
| Company | 2025 launches | Vehicle / class | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | 165 Falcon 9 (plus Falcon Heavy & Starship tests) | Medium/heavy lift, reusable | Dominant; runs Starlink in-house |
| Rocket Lab | 21 (18 Electron + 3 HASTE) | Small lift + suborbital; Neutron in development | Only other Western operator at monthly cadence |
| ULA | Single-digits | Vulcan Centaur (heavy lift) | Ramping; not reusable |
| Blue Origin | A handful | New Glenn (heavy lift, first stages landed) | Early commercial phase |
| Firefly Aerospace | Low single-digits | Alpha (small lift) | Subscale cadence |
| Relativity Space | 0 orbital in 2025 | Terran R (medium lift) in development | Pre-flight |
| Astra | 0 | Rocket 4 in development | Pre-flight |
Peter Beck has publicly said there is "nobody else demonstrating launch cadence and reliability other than SpaceX and us" – a claim which, based on the 2025 flight count, is factually accurate.
Satellite / space systems
In spacecraft, payloads and subsystems Rocket Lab competes with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Maxar (now part of Maxar Intelligence/ Space Infrastructure), L3Harris, Sierra Space, Millennium Space (a Boeing subsidiary), and smaller specialists like Terran Orbital and York Space Systems. The Geost and Mynaric acquisitions were explicitly designed to allow Rocket Lab to compete as a prime contractor on EO/IR and laser-comms mission elements rather than as a subsystem supplier to Lockheed or Northrop.
Policy impact analysis
The January 2026 FY26 US defence bill unlocked billions of dollars for Golden Dome and restored Tranche 3 Tracking Layer funding that had been in dispute. Of the ~$3.5bn Tranche 3 contract pool, Rocket Lab took $816m – a disproportionate share for a company of its size. The direct comparison is with L3Harris, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, which won the other Tranche 3 slots. Rocket Lab's ability to compete for prime-award work (rather than subsystem supply) is a direct consequence of its 2025 decision to acquire Geost, which gave it in-house EO/IR sensor capability – without that, the contract would almost certainly have gone to an incumbent prime. The Mynaric acquisition in April 2026 repeats the same pattern for optical communications.
Market size
The Space Foundation's 2025 "Space Report" put the global space economy at around $600bn and growing double-digits. The commercial launch market is still small (under $20bn) relative to satellite manufacturing and services (well over $100bn) – which is why Rocket Lab has been pivoting toward Space Systems, where both the TAM and the margins are larger.
9. Leadership and Ownership
Key executives
- Sir Peter Beck – Founder, CEO, Chair of the Board. Founded Rocket Lab in New Zealand in 2006 with no engineering degree; knighted in 2024. Widely regarded as the driving force behind the company's technical culture and strategic direction. In 2026 he voluntarily reduced his cash salary to $1 and forfeited $392,155 in RSUs, explicitly tying his compensation to shareholder value creation.
- Adam Spice – Chief Financial Officer. Long-tenured finance lead responsible for capital-raising (ATM programme) and M&A integration.
- Richard Middleton – President (elevated 2024).
- Frank Klein – Chief Operations Officer.
- Senior programme leads run the Electron, Neutron, Space Systems, and National Security business lines.
Ownership
- Total shares outstanding: approximately 534.2 million.
- Peter Beck: 884,085 shares directly held as of 2 March 2026 (plus additional indirect holdings via trust structures). Additional unvested RSUs remain outstanding.
- Institutional ownership is heavy, led by Vanguard, BlackRock and ARK Investment Management (Cathie Wood's ARKX/ARKK funds have held RKLB as a major position since IPO).
Insider transactions (last ~12 months)
Peter Beck's trading has been almost entirely planned 10b5-1 sales executed indirectly through the Equatorial Trust, rather than discretionary open-market disposals. Separately, several sales shown on Form 4 filings are sell-to-cover transactions where RSUs vested and shares were automatically sold to meet tax withholding – these are not informational signals.
| Name | Date | Type | Shares | Weighted avg. price | Plan type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Beck (CEO) | 24 Nov 2025 | Sell-to-cover (RSU tax) | 4,707 | $40.02 | Automatic (non-discretionary) |
| Peter Beck (CEO) | 24 Nov 2025 | Sell-to-cover (RSU tax) | 14,073 | $40.86 | Automatic (non-discretionary) |
| Peter Beck (CEO) | 24 Nov 2025 | Sell-to-cover (RSU tax) | 77 | $41.35 | Automatic (non-discretionary) |
| Peter Beck (indirect via Equatorial Trust) | 15-16 Dec 2025 | Sell | Undisclosed block | ~$40-45 | 10b5-1 (adopted 13 June 2025) |
| Peter Beck | 15 Nov 2025 | RSU grant | 132,426 | $0.00 | Annual equity grant |
| Peter Beck (compensation change) | April 2026 | Forfeited $392,155 in RSUs, cut salary to $1 | — | — | Voluntary |
Net insider activity over the last 6-12 months: net sales by dollar value, driven by pre-planned 10b5-1 sales and automatic RSU tax-cover. There have been no discretionary open-market insider purchases disclosed over this period – but the CEO voluntarily giving up cash compensation and unvested RSUs is an unusual positive signal from a shareholder-alignment perspective, even though it is not a market purchase.
10. Risks and Challenges
Execution risk on Neutron
Neutron has slipped from its original 2024 target to 2025, then to 2026, and within 2026 from mid-year to Q4. The first-stage tank failed during testing in early 2025. Another slip would damage credibility, defer contracted revenue, and force additional R&D burn. Rocket Lab has to demonstrate not just a successful first flight but a production cadence and reusability performance close to Falcon 9's.
Concentration in US defence
A growing share of backlog is tied to US DoD, SDA, MDA and allied programmes. The single biggest near-term driver – Golden Dome – is funded through congressional appropriations and is, as with any large defence programme, subject to re-scoping, political fights and Congressional delay.
Dilution
Rocket Lab has been a serial equity issuer. The 2025-2026 ATM programmes and forward-collared transactions, together with M&A consideration paid in stock (Mynaric, Geost), have grown the share count materially. Any future large acquisition is likely to be funded partly in equity.
Legal and regulatory
Operates under ITAR/EAR export controls and multiple foreign-investment review regimes (CFIUS in the US, BMWK in Germany for Mynaric). Mynaric closed only after final FDI approval was received in Q1 2026. Future cross-border M&A carries similar regulatory timing risk.
Competition
SpaceX remains an order of magnitude larger in launches and has a captive anchor customer in Starlink. Blue Origin's New Glenn is now flying. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris are all competing aggressively for SDA and Golden Dome work. Any pricing compression or loss of merchant-supplier share would hurt Space Systems margins.
Capital-allocation risk
Back-to-back acquisitions (Sinclair Interplanetary, SolAero, Geost, Mynaric) have been strategically coherent but have to be integrated. Each carries execution and culture risk. The Neutron programme alone is a multi-hundred-million dollar commitment with binary near-term outcomes.
Geopolitical and trade
Rocket Lab manufactures rocket bodies in New Zealand and ships hardware internationally. Tariff policy, export-control changes and US-China tech decoupling all create cost and lead-time risk.
Key-person risk
Peter Beck is unusually closely associated with Rocket Lab's technical and commercial direction. Loss of, or a material reduction in involvement by, the CEO would be a genuine risk even by public-company standards.
Liquidity risk
Lower than for most venture-stage space companies. Cash plus securities plus the April 2026 ATM proceeds give runway comfortably into 2028, but the runway depends on Neutron reaching commercial service and backlog converting to revenue as management has described.
Reputational and ESG
As a defence prime, Rocket Lab is increasingly exposed to ESG exclusions from weapons-related investment screens. At the same time it benefits from "allied resilience" narratives.
11. Recent Developments
Last 48 hours
- 16 April 2026: Rocket Lab confirmed it will release Q1 2026 results after the US market close on 7 May 2026, with a conference call at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET.
- 16 April 2026: RKLB closed up ~9% (from $73.60 toward $80, later trading to $84-87) as the space-sector basket rallied on NASA contract headlines and the Mynaric/Gauss tailwinds.
- 15-16 April 2026: Management disclosed Peter Beck's decision to cut his cash salary to $1 and forfeit $392,155 in RSUs – framed by the company as aligning his compensation entirely with shareholder value.
- April 2026 (reported 16-18 April): Rocket Lab filed launch permit paperwork for the first Neutron flight window of 1 July – 31 December 2026.
- Expanded iQPS agreement: Multi-launch deal lifted contracted Electron missions to 15, with 7 already flown and the balance resuming no earlier than 2026.
April 2026
- 14 April 2026: Unveiled Gauss Hall-effect thruster at the 2026 Space Symposium with a production line sized for 200 units per year.
- 14 April 2026: Closed the $155.3m acquisition of Mynaric AG; Rocket Lab Europe stands up in Munich; 2.3m RKLB shares and a "nominal" cash payment used as consideration.
- 8 April 2026: Completed the latest ATM equity offering, selling ~6.73m shares for ~$474m gross proceeds, plus 7.45m shares under collared forward sales with minimum expected proceeds of ~$474m (max ~$642m).
Q1 2026 and late 2025
- 17 March 2026: Registered a new $1bn at-the-market equity distribution programme – stock dipped ~5% pre-market on the filing.
- March 2026: Awarded $190m HASTE hypersonic launch contract (20 flights, MACH-TB 2.0).
- 31 March 2026: Final FDI approval received for the Mynaric acquisition (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz).
- 26 February 2026: Reported record Q4 2025 revenue of $180m and full-year revenue of $602m (+38%); record backlog of $1.85bn (+73%); non-GAAP Q4 gross margin of 44.3%; and guided Q1 2026 revenue of $185-200m.
- 20 January 2026: FY26 US defence bill passed, unlocking Golden Dome funding and restoring SDA Tranche 3 appropriations.
- 19 December 2025: Awarded $816m SDA Tranche 3 Tracking Layer contract (18 missile-tracking satellites), lifting cumulative SDA contract value above $1.3bn.
- December 2025: Neutron's "Hungry Hippo" fairing qualified; first Neutron flight pushed formally to 2026.
- 21 December 2025: Closed out the 2025 launch year with the iQPS mission, recording 21 launches and 100% mission success.
- 11 November 2025: Reported record Q3 2025 revenue of $155m (+48%) at record gross margin.
- 12 August 2025: Closed $275m acquisition of Geost (EO/IR payload developer); entered prime-contract role for defence payloads.
12. Key Dates Coming Up
- 7 May 2026 (after close): Q1 2026 earnings report and conference call.
- Q2 2026: Continued Archimedes engine qualification testing at NASA Stennis; Neutron first-stage and second-stage static fires at LC-3 once the first vehicle is on-site.
- 2026 annual shareholder meeting: Virtual format confirmed in 2026 proxy filing.
- 1 July – 31 December 2026: Filed launch window for the first Neutron flight from LC-3 at Wallops.
- Ongoing 2026: Additional Electron and HASTE launches from LC-1 (New Zealand) and LC-2 (Virginia); deliveries of early SDA Tranche 2 Transport Layer Beta satellites; Mynaric CONDOR Mk3 integration milestones on the 36-satellite SDA build.
- No ex-dividend date: Rocket Lab does not pay a dividend.
Where to track this next
You can watch RKLB alongside the wider space and defence sector on the ChartsView Live Charts, set alerts around the Q1 2026 earnings release on the Economic Calendar, and discuss the setup with other traders on the ChartsView Forum. For the latest research on other companies, see the ChartsView Blog.
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