Rocket Lab signalled investors, but once again it shows that it’s more than just “just” the rocket company.
The second quarter results of Rocket Lab, posted Thursday, continue to be driven by the space systems business rather than continuing revenue releases. The results also highlighted the company’s acquisition strategy and how purchasing a new optical payload company would make it more competitive against government favorable contracts.
The company’s space systems generated $97.9 million of its $144.5 million total revenue for the second quarter. Rocket Labs’ total revenues are the highest quarterly revenue in the company’s history, up 36% from a year ago. The company’s net loss increased to $66.4 million.
Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, highlighted “a busy quarter of M&A activities.” The company is now closing its deal to buy Geost, the company that builds optical payloads. Through its acquisition, which will be closed with $275 million in cash and stock, Rocket Lab is opening a new business unit called Optical Systems, which will expand the production of electro-optic and infrared sensors.
These sensors are used for missile warning, tracking, and space domain recognition. The acquisition is part of a bigger play from Rocket Lab to bid on multi-billion dollar DOD initiatives like the Golden Dome.
Rocket Lab has already won several major defense contracts, including a $515 million Section 18 build contract to support the Space Agency’s missile tracking satellite constellations. Rocket Lab said the company moved to production on these satellites after confirming it met the DoD mission requirements.
On Earth, Rocket Lab says it is on track for the first launch of a larger neutron rocket. The Virginia rocket launch complex is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of this year, with hardware being midway through with a new Rocket engine called Archimedes undergoing multiple tests per day.
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The company remains ambiguous about the exact launch date, and in its presentation it states that it is “pushing full effort to bring neutrons to the launch pad by the end of 2025.”
Rocket Lab closes the quarter with $564 million in cash and cash equivalents, with expected revenues reaching between $104.55 million and $155 million in the next quarter.
