Rocket Lab revenue slips 7% as space company expands American defence efforts

Space company Rocket Lab is expanding its United States defence efforts, setting up a new holding company to reduce national security risks.

The company that developed and launched rockets in New Zealand and the United States, as well as spacecraft and space systems, made US$123 million revenue in the three months to the end of March.

The revenue result was softer than its record revenue number last quarter of US$132.4m, but was an increase of 32% compared with the same period last year.

The company launched five of its small-lift Electron rockets in the three-month period and continued to progress its bigger Neutron rocket development.

A dedicated launch site for Neutron in Wallops Island, Virginia would open soon, ahead of its debut launch later this year.

“Neutron is a powerful new launch option that will set a new standard for performance, affordability, and reliability for government and commercial space users in medium launch.” Rocket Lab chief executive Sir Peter Beck said in a press release announcing a new Neutron contract with the US Air Force.

“We also remain confident in our ability to execute and deliver on what’s set to be another strong quarter, with our Q2 2025 revenue guidance in the $130m-$140 million range,” he said, regarding the company’s financial position.

“Which would reflect the underlying strength of our increasingly diverse business within the current geopolitical climate, showing the resilience of our vertically integrated end-to-end space company business model.

“We’ve also significantly reshaped Rocket Lab these past few years as we’ve completed multiple acquisitions, announced our intention to expand into Europe, and entered new markets.”

He told investors it would change the name of its holding company listed on the US Nasdaq exchange, from Rocket Lab USA to Rocket Lab Corporation.

“To better align our legal entities with our business objectives and our US Government security requirements for our expanding national security focus.”

There would be no impact to shareholders and Beck would continue his role as CEO and president.

More to come.