Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB) has been awarded a $397 million contract by the United States Space Force to develop, launch and operate multiple Flatellite spacecraft as part of the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program. The company announced the deal after markets closed on Tuesday from Long Beach, and said the vehicles will fly on its in-development Neutron rocket with an option for additional Flatellites baked into the contract value.
What Rocket Lab Is Delivering
Flatellite is Rocket Lab's flat-form-factor satellite bus designed for high-density packaging inside launch fairings and volume constellations. For SB-AMTI, each satellite will carry space-based sensors and low-latency, high-bandwidth communications links, feeding data to the Space Force. Rocket Lab will operate the constellation itself, an unusual full-stack scope that also spans launch, spacecraft manufacturing and mission operations.
Second Task Order In A Larger AMTI Program
The award is the Space Force's second SB-AMTI task order and part of a $615 million package split with Systems & Technology Research and an unnamed third vendor. It follows a much larger $4.16 billion award to SpaceX in June that anchored the constellation. Vendor diversity is the Space Force's explicit rationale — SB-AMTI is meant to replace airborne tracking platforms too fragile for contested airspace, and program managers want more than one supply chain.
Why It Matters
"Our vertically integrated, constellation-class satellite capabilities, mission operations, and launch services uniquely position us to deliver innovative solutions that meet the urgent needs of the Space Force," said Rocket Lab founder Sir Peter Beck. The company has been stacking Space Force wins, including a $266 million suborbital-launch contract in late July and its addition to the $17 billion NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 roster.
Reporting based on coverage from Rocket Lab, GlobeNewswire and SpaceNews.