Rocket Lab has won an eight hundred sixteen million dollar contract with the U.S. Space Development Agency. This is the company’s largest contract to date and marks a significant step as it diversifies beyond its original identity as a rocket company.
The company announced that its subsidiary, Rocket Lab USA, was awarded a prime contract by the Space Development Agency to design and manufacture eighteen satellites. These satellites will be equipped with advanced sensors for missile warning, tracking, and defense. They are part of the agency’s Tracking Layer Tranche 3 program.
This new contract is separate from an existing five hundred fifteen million dollar award to deliver satellites for the SDA’s Transport Layer-Beta Tranche 2 program. That earlier program aims to build a satellite communications network in low Earth orbit to provide encrypted, low-latency data to the military.
Combined, these contracts from the Space Development Agency are valued at more than one point three billion dollars for Rocket Lab.
The company has been expanding into the defense sector and has recently stated its intention to bid for multibillion-dollar Department of Defense initiatives, such as one known as Golden Dome.