Rocket Lab

As Blue Origin races to close the gap on SpaceX, a huge explosion on the launchpad has dealt the company a significant setback. Editors discuss how Blue will respond and implications for the broader launch market.

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

ROCKET LAB passes Tranche 3 Tracking Layer review... HELI-ONE establishes S-92 support center in Brazil... ELBIT acquires BLUE WHITE ROBOTICS...

The U.S. Space Force has awarded Rocket Lab a contract to build two space domain awareness spacecraft bound for geostationary orbit.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck received recognition at the Laureates Awards, crediting the company's 3,500-strong workforce for the achievement rather than accepting individual accolades.

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

Rocket Lab has signed an agreement to buy Motiv Space Systems, a specialist in planetary robotics and solar array motors, for $40 million in cash.

Rocket Lab has already booked more launches in the first three months of 2026 than in all of 2025, company CEO Peter Beck announced in a May 7 earnings call.

Anduril plans to conduct three company-funded tests of a hypersonic vehicle launched by a Rocket Lab rocket, the launch company said May 7.

Rocket Lab on April 14 added a high-performance, Hall-effect satellite thruster to its growing catalog of space technologies and flight services.

Global orbital launches surge 25% in 2025 as SpaceX dominates with 165 missions while Starlink constellation tops 10,100 satellites.

Firefly Aerospace and Seagate Space Corp. partner to develop an offshore launch platform, aiming to expand orbital access for government and commercial missions.

New rockets that were supposed to solve a persistent launcher shortage are falling short amid delays and technical setbacks.

The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX two additional missions on behalf of the Space Development Agency (SDA) to launch no earlier than late fiscal 2027.

Rocket Lab says it has received regulatory approval from the German government to acquire optical communications provider Mynaric.

The Defense Department has tapped Rocket Lab to launch its Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) rocket 20 times in four years.

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

A Hypersonix Launch Systems vehicle completed its first flight late on Feb. 27, propelled to Mach 5-plus speeds by a Rocket Lab HASTE rocket.

Rocket Lab says a manufacturing fault caused the failure of a Neutron rocket Stage 1 tank in January and has now pushed the inaugural flight for the launcher to late this year.

Rocket Lab will launch a hypersonic test mission for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) no earlier than late February, the company announced Feb. 12.

NASA has named eight U.S. companies that are eligible to bid for the development of the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter.

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

Rocket Lab suffered a structural failure of the Neutron's Stage 1 tank during testing, setting back efforts to get the fully reusable launcher to liftoff.

Rocket Lab joins established primes as the U.S. Space Development Agency scales its proliferated missile-warning and tracking architecture.

Rocket Lab is making its missile defense development debut as the SDA awarded the company one of four contracts for the next phase of its Tracking Layer