Rocket Lab joins Raytheon on space interceptor program for Golden Dome
Rocket Lab said May 7 it won new Pentagon-related defense business tied to the Trump administration's Golden Dome missile defense initiative and to the expanding U.S. push to accelerate hypersonic weapons testing.
Rocket Lab, based in California and New Zealand, provides satellite launch services, spacecraft and defense-related space systems.
The company said it is working with defense contractor Raytheon to demonstrate technologies for the U.S. Space Force's space-based interceptor program, a key component of Golden Dome, the administration's proposed layered missile defense architecture intended to counter ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missile threats.
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Raytheon is one of 12 companies selected by the Space Force as prime contractors in the space-based interceptor program, intended to deploy missile interceptors in orbit capable of engaging adversary missiles during flight.
Rocket Lab Chief Financial Officer Adam Spice said the company views the Golden Dome interceptor effort as "a very large opportunity, but there are gates that we've got to get through," referring to program milestones required before companies can advance to later phases.
During Rocket Lab's first-quarter earnings call May 7, Spice said the procurement model requires contractors to commit internal funding upfront in hopes of securing larger production contracts later.
"This is kind of an interesting procurement process for the government where companies like ourselves and Raytheon and others that are in the mix have to put some of their own skin in the game to unlock a potentially very large opportunity in the back end," Spice said. "We think we're in a good spot."
The Space Force's space-based interceptor effort is being structured using Other Transaction agreements, reducing the government's upfront costs while encouraging rapid prototyping and competition among vendors.
Separately, Rocket Lab announced an agreement with Anduril Industries for three hypersonic test flights using Rocket Lab's HASTE suborbital launch vehicle. The launches will take place from the company's Launch Complex 2 in Virginia, with the first mission expected within 12 months.
The HASTE vehicle, short for Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, is designed for suborbital hypersonic flight tests and can support experiments involving speeds above Mach 5.
Rocket Lab has positioned HASTE to capture growing demand for testing systems related to hypersonic vehicles, driven both by Pentagon hypersonic weapons programs and by defense contractors developing next-generation missile and aerospace technologies.
The company said the three flights are internally funded by Anduril to accelerate development of hypersonic technologies for defense applications.
Rocket Lab in March announced it won a 20-launch contract to fly hypersonic test missions for the Pentagon. The company said its HASTE-related contracts now account for nearly one-third of its backlog of more than 70 launches.
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