Overview
- Rocket Lab confirmed late Monday that the U.S. Space Force awarded a $266 million Rocket Systems Launch Program contract that funds 12 firm suborbital launches with options for up to six more.
- Most missions are planned to launch from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island and the company says the work will require building a local launch operation there before flights begin no earlier than late 2026.
- The flights are intended to support missile‑defense and hypersonic testing by recreating high‑speed, suborbital trajectories used to test sensors, interceptors and other tracking systems.
- Neither the Space Force nor Rocket Lab disclosed specific payloads or the exact vehicle variant to be used, though Rocket Lab’s HASTE suborbital vehicle is the likely candidate for many missions.
- The award expands Rocket Lab’s national‑security work and adds a fourth launch site to its network while leaving program scale and schedule dependent on site buildout, integration timelines and whether contract options are exercised.