Rocket Lab

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

Rocket Lab and its partner, True Anomaly, will conduct rendezvous and proximity operations as part of the demonstration.

The recovery is a milestone in the company’s efforts to step up its launch cadence by reusing first-stage boosters.

Rocket Lab USA will launch a group of experimental payloads to very low earth orbit (VLEO) in April 2026.

The Pentagon on April 2 revealed its long-awaited strategy for integrating commercial space capabilities into national defense operations.

The agency’s disruptive approach to space acquisition has produced many contracts in a tight timeline, though its biggest tests are yet to come.

Astra Space and Terran Orbital are the latest public space startups to bow out.

Astra Space will go private by accepting a recently lowered buyout bid from its co-founders and top executives.

The flight demonstration is one of six with NASA backing.

Varda Space Industries’ reentry capsule has received permission from the FAA to leave orbit, pass through the atmosphere and land back on terra firma.

Rocket Lab has been awarded a $489 million contract to design, build and operate 18 Tranche 2 Transport Layer-Beta Data Transport Satellites for the SDA.

A record 223 orbital-class rockets lifted off last year, a 20% hike over 2022.

Rocket Lab has received a $489 million contract to design, build and operate 18 space vehicles on behalf of an undisclosed U.S. government customer.

As the first U.S. hypersonic weapons enter service, defense officials are searching for new ideas for high-speed propulsion and to dramatically reduce prices.

Rocket Lab’s 42nd launch of a two-stage Electron booster lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 11:05 p.m. EST Dec. 14.

Launcher manufacturer Rocket Lab is taking over the historic Middle River, Maryland, factory that Lockheed Martin is exiting.

Frank Calvelli, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, spoke at Aviation Week’s A&D Programs conference on Nov. 7.

The type, a step down in size from cubesats, is popular for experiments and tech demos.

South Africa is working to develop an indigenous launch capability within five years, with plans to develop a former military site on the Western Cape into a commercial spaceport.

Rocket Lab warned investors on Sept. 26 that it had to lower its financial expectations for the current third quarter ending Sept. 30.

Rocket Lab is investigating the failure of an Electron rocket during a mission to deliver a radar-imaging satellite into low Earth orbit for Capella Space.

Rocket Lab took another step toward reusing its Electron small-satellite launch vehicles by flying a recovered engine for the first time.

The linkup between Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and Australia’s Hypersonix Launch Systems is the latest in Hypersonix’s growth into the U.S. market.

Seven missions have been set aside for the third-place winner.

Swarming paths could be useful for deep-space scientific missions.