July 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nAlthough the US Federal Aviation Authority banned commercial space launches from Monday, it seems a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket that will carry two Mars-bound Rocket Lab satellites will have another attempt at a launch on Thursday morning NZT after Blue Origin liaised with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). <\/p>\n
Spice said pending US Government contracts could be impacted if the shutdown continued, but he saw \u201cencouraging signs\u201d.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, a group of Democrat Senators broke ranks and joined Republicans to pass legislation that would see the US Government funded through to January 30. The stopgap still has to pass the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
A Starlink competitor?<\/p>\n
Beck has recently dropped hints that Rocket Lab \u2013 which has a growing business making satellites and spacecraft components for others \u2013 could create its own version of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink constellation of broadband satellites.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point, do you want to own your own constellation and sell that as a service?,\u201d a Morgan Stanley analyst asked on the conference call.<\/p>\n
Beck\u2019s answer boiled down to that it would shortly have the capability to do so, but was still thinking about whether it\u2019s the right move.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just sort of quietly and methodically going about making sure we have all the strategic elements we need to ultimately deploy things at scale,\u201d the Rocket Lab CEO said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLow-cost, rapid and reliable access to space is the place you start and Neutron gives us that multi-tonne capability.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, if you look at space systems, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any satellite we can\u2019t grow and build. I mean, we\u2019ve got two going to Mars shortly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo from an engineering perspective and a component perspective, all of those bases are loaded and we\u2019ll be very strategic about how we think about the next step \u2013 which would be building our own constellation \u2013 and whether we would provide services or infrastructure has yet to be determined.\u201d<\/p>\n
In September, SpaceX bought US$17b worth of wireless spectrum from EchoStar, a US satellite TV provider that has hit hard times.<\/p>\n
The spectrum will be used to boost Starlink\u2019s Direct-to-Mobile service.<\/p>\n
Beck was asked if Rocket Lab would follow suit.<\/p>\n
Here, he was black and white. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to go out and buy billions of dollars of spectrum, speculatively,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
Backlog swells<\/p>\n
Analysts and investors seemed reassured that although Neutron\u2019s first launch has been delayed, customer contracts are already in the bag.<\/p>\n
Rocket Lab\u2019s overall backlog had grown 56% to US$509.7m.<\/p>\n
In response to a Goldman Sachs analyst question on the conference call, Rocket Lab chief financial officer Adam Spice said the forward business pipeline included contracts for two Neutron launches.<\/p>\n
A third contract was signed but not yet added to the official backlog tally because it was a \u201crideshare\u201d that had yet to be fully booked.<\/p>\n
Spice earlier said Rocket Lab will charge US$50m to US$55m for a Neutron flight which will be able to carry a 13-tonne payload (including crew) into orbit, undercutting SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 (which has a 16-tonne payload capacity).<\/p>\n
Rocket Lab charges about US$7.5m for its smaller Electron rocket today, which can carry a payload of about 300kg.<\/p>\n
Ocko exits<\/p>\n
One of Rocket Lab\u2019s earliest backers, Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist Matt Ocko, will resign from the board as of November 30 after an eight-year stint. <\/p>\n
Ocko \u2013 a frequent visitor to New Zealand who has become a native forestry advocate \u2013 is also a member of the investment committee for the Government-owned New Zealand Growth Capital Partners\u2019 Elevate fund. <\/p>\n
Ocko\u2019s venture capital fund, DCVC, has also been a major investor in Halter, founded by ex-Rocket Lab engineer Craig Piggott and also backed by Beck.<\/p>\n
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald\u2019s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.<\/p>\n