Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ: RKLB) announced on July 27, 2026 that it has been awarded its largest launch contract to date — a $266 million multi-launch agreement with the US Space Force — as the Pentagon accelerates spending on suborbital missile-defense test flights. The contract, awarded by the Space Systems Command's Rocket Systems Launch Program (RSLP), covers 12 suborbital launches with an option for up to six additional missions.
New Kodiak launch site anchors the deal
The launches will primarily take place from a new Rocket Lab location at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska (PSCA) in Kodiak, complementing the company's existing Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and Launch Complexes 2 and 3 in Virginia. The first launch under the contract is expected no earlier than the end of 2026. Kodiak's high-latitude polar geometry makes it well suited to the trajectories used in hypersonic-glide and boost-phase intercept experiments.
Missile-defense tests at industrial scale
RSLP is the Space Force's on-ramp for hypersonic and missile-defense flight testing, using suborbital launch vehicles as targets and sensor platforms for programs such as the Missile Defense Agency's Glide Phase Interceptor and Next Generation Interceptor. Rocket Lab's Electron-derived HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) vehicle has become a workhorse for these missions, and the $266M award effectively locks in a multi-year cadence of Kodiak flights.
A record week for Rocket Lab
RKLB stock climbed nearly 5% in premarket trading on the news, extending a July that has also seen Rocket Lab expand its Electron manifest for commercial and government payloads. The deal fits into a broader Pentagon pattern of concentrating hypersonic and missile-defense test work with proven small-launch providers, alongside partnerships such as SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 and L3Harris and Shield AI's autonomous EW flight.
Reporting based on coverage from Rocket Lab, GlobeNewswire, The Defence Blog and Stocktwits.