A decade ago, SpaceX launched six Falcon 9 rockets in a year—now, it could be on track for an orbital launch rate of 136 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy flights.
The service is taking the Rocket Systems Launch Program back to its customer-funded roots, but small launchers still have routes to work with the government.
The take-private deal marks a near-complete reversal from the $2.6 billion valuation that the startup sported when it became a publicly traded company.
Rocket Lab has signed a preliminary memorandum of terms with the Department of Commerce for up to $23.9 million in funding from the CHIPS and Science Act.
The launch of NASA’s second Prefire Earth science mission small satellite has been rescheduled due to an off-nominal liquid oxygen propellant detection.
Prefire joins more than two dozen current NASA Earth Science missions focused on studies of the planet’s oceans, ice, vegetation, atmosphere and landforms.