Overview
- Rocket Lab shares climbed about 10% Wednesday after reports that SpaceX is preparing a roughly $75 billion IPO and after NASA outlined a new lunar base plan called “Ignition.”
- NASA’s proposal sketches about $20 billion to build a semi‑permanent moon base by 2032, including roughly 30 robotic cargo landers flying at about one mission per month.
- Neutron, Rocket Lab’s reusable medium‑lift rocket slated for a first launch in the fourth quarter after a manufacturing defect delay, could carry lunar cargo if NASA spreads missions beyond SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
- Rocket Lab says its contracted backlog now tops $2 billion after a $190 million award for 20 hypersonic test flights using its HASTE vehicle under the MACH‑TB 2.0 program.
- Rocket Lab’s 21 launches and $602 million in 2025 revenue, plus an $816 million award to build 18 missile‑warning satellites, underpin a Moderate Buy view with an average target near $89 and a new Buy from Clear Street at $88.