Overview
- Rocket Lab, which disclosed the German sign-off Tuesday, expects to close the Mynaric purchase in April.
- Berlin’s approval includes binding terms that keep IP, production and R&D in Germany or Europe and ensure future supply for German and European defense users, including the Bundeswehr, with a right to revoke the clearance if rules are broken.
- Mynaric will keep its Munich-area headquarters as Rocket Lab’s first European base, and the buyer says it will expand factory capacity to deliver optical terminals at scale.
- The company already supplies CONDOR Mk3 laser terminals for Rocket Lab’s $1.3 billion Space Development Agency contracts to build 36 satellites, and it reported shipping more than 350 units in 2025 at a double-digit weekly pace.
- Laser links use tight beams that move more data than radio and reduce spectrum strain, which boosts big satellite networks but fuels sovereignty concerns because U.S. ownership could bring U.S. export controls that limit all-European projects.