Rocket Lab has secured a new contract from NASA to launch three scientific launches, adding to its growing pipeline.<\/p>\n
The US space agency has selected the New Zealand-founded company to carry out three Electron rocket launches for its PolSIR (Polarised Submillimetre Ice-cloud Radiometer) and TSIS2 (Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2) missions from 2027.<\/p>\n
Two of the launches would focused on studying how ice clouds form in the upper atmosphere, and another studying the sun.<\/p>\n
The launches would happen at its New Zealand complex at M\u0101hia Peninsula.<\/p>\n
Demand had continued growing for Rocket Lab’s small satellite launch services, which are being used for time-sensitive scientific and government missions.<\/p>\n
“Electron has become synonymous with reliability, precise orbital accuracy, and on-demand launch capability and we’ve been delivering this for NASA missions for almost a decade,” Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Sir Peter Beck said.<\/p>\n
The contract builds on a long-standing relationship with NASA and comes as Rocket Lab expands its role in the global space industry beyond launches into spacecraft and satellite components.<\/p>\n
The company now has more than 70 missions booked across its Electron rocket programme, contributing to a backlog of more than US$2 billion in contracted work.<\/p>\n
That backlog provides visibility over future revenue and reflects strong demand from both government and commercial customers, particularly in defence and satellite constellations.<\/p>\n
Rocket Lab was also preparing to launch its Photon spacecraft later this year for NASA’s LOXSAT mission.<\/p>\n
Capable of carrying payloads of 170kg into space, it will demonstrate in\u2011space refuelling technology for future deep-space missions.<\/p>\n
The company was developing its larger Neutron rocket, aimed at serving a growing market for medium\u2011lift launches, including satellite constellations and national security missions.<\/p>\n
Analysts say a steady stream of contract wins, particularly from government agencies like NASA, is important in underpinning Rocket Lab’s growth and positioning it as a leading alternative to larger launch providers.<\/p>\n
Rocket Lab was listed on the Nasdaq, and its share price had increased by around 150 percent over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab has secured a new contract from NASA to launch three scientific launches, adding to its growing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-495830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}