While still up 5% for the year, the stock is now well off its all-time high of US$150.23 hit in May during the build-up to SpaceX’s record-setting initial public offer (IPO).
The second quarter saw US$437m in new contracts for its Electron rocket, Haste (an Electron modified to mimic a hypersonic missile for defence shield testing) and Neutron launches, plus $581m for space systems, swelling Rocket Lab’s backlog of work by 137% year-on-year to US$2.4b.
The quarter’s tally included a record US$266m contract for 18 suborbital launches for the US Space Force (USSF), which will see Rocket Lab open twin launch pads in Alaska.
Cash, following the issue of new shares, increased to US$2.2b from the year-ago US$828.6m.
The company has long said it won’t turn a profit until the launch of its much larger, crew-capable Neutron.
On that front, it said it was on track to have Neutron on the launch pad in Virginia during the fourth quarter (which would put it in play to meet its now twice-delayed target for a maiden launch before year’s end).
Today, Rocket Lab said it continued to sign customers for Neutron, the latest being Kepler Communications which will use the new rocket to deploy “multiple satellites” from its signature “hungry hippo” nose fairing (fabricated at an ex-Sail GP facility in Warkworth) for an undisclosed sum.
However, founder, chief executive and chairman Sir Peter Beck began an earnings call not with a Neutron update but by talking up Rocket Lab’s recent deal to buy communications satellite network operator Iridium for US$8b in a half-cash, half-scrip deal due to close in mid-2027.
Iridium has 2.55 million commercial and government customers for its broadband, satellite phone, maritime distress, air traffic control, PNT (an alternative to GPS) and internet-of-things services.
In 2025, Iridium’s operational earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) profit rose 5% to US$495m on revenue that rose 13% to US$871m.
The satellite firm’s net profit increased 1% from US$112.8m to US$114.4m.
Some analysts say the Iridium purchase will push Rocket Lab into profit, even if there’s another Neutron delay, others see it as a vehicle to take on SpaceX’s Starlink (already facing competition by year’s end from well-funded newcomers Amazon Leo and AST Space Mobile).
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Beck said on today’s call that the Iridium purchase “will accelerate our future in space applications and evolve Rocket Lab into a fully integrated space powerhouse”.
Data centres in space
On the conference call, Beck said Iridium as it stands today was “just the starting point”.
Asked about the potential for data centres in space, Beck said: “I think it’s a real opportunity. We’re taking the opportunity seriously. There’s obviously a lot of folks looking at that pretty deeply. You’ll certainly see us release new solar cells that are specifically targeted to that kind of application.”
Rocket Lab earlier bought SolAero, a New Mexico maker of solar panels for satellites.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has also talked up data centres in space, though experts say there are still several unresolved engineering issues, including how to disperse heat in a vacuum.
New German subsidiary
Rocket Lab also said today that it has established a subsidiary in Germany, with “potential future scaling of Rocket Lab satellite and component manufacturing in Germany to provide sovereign space capabilities to Europe”.
Not uncoincidentally, the quarter also saw Rocket Lab finally close its US$155m acquisition of Mynaric, a German maker of laser communications systems for satellites. The deal had faced regulatory push-back.
Rocket Lab has bagged further business since the June quarter closed.
The firm said last week that it has been awarded a US$397m ($709m) contract under the US Air Force’s Space Force Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) programme.
It also continues to host military and defence brass. The company recently posted to LinkedIn:
“It was an honour to host the Chief of Space Operations General Chance Saltzman United States Space Force at Rocket Lab recently. From responsive launch to advanced spacecraft, we’re proud to play a central role in securing the ultimate high ground for the USSF.”
Locals’ slice of the action
Sharesies said on July 15 that Rocket Lab had become the most widely held company on its platform, displacing Air New Zealand, which had held the top company spot since the index began reporting in 2023.
Rocket Lab shares were held by close to 70,000 Sharesies investors across New Zealand and Australia at the end of June, while 23,000 had bought into SpaceX.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
