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WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab is aiming to chip away at SpaceX’s dominance in military space launch, confirming its bid to compete for Pentagon contracts with its new medium-lift rocket Neutron.
“We’re excited to bid this time round for NSSL Lane 1, and we think Neutron is a really good vehicle for it,” Rocket Lab’s founder and CEO Peter Beck told SpaceNews.
The U.S. Space Force last week released a request for proposals from launch companies seeking to challenge SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin in the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program.
The NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 program is structured as an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, enabling the Space Force to on-ramp providers on a yearly basis, and award individual task orders as needed.
The Space Force requires the next round of Lane 1 bidders to be ready for a first launch by December 2025, a timeline Beck says Neutron can meet.
“We think we can get there, but ultimately the government will decide that,” he said.
Despite ongoing questions about Neutron’s readiness and the state of its launch infrastructure, Rocket Lab would enter the NSSL competition at a time when the military is eager for fresh launch providers to address growing national security demands.
Lane 1 is designed for missions that can accept higher risks and is intended to facilitate faster launches of less sensitive payloads. This contrasts with Lane 2, which will focus on more critical missions requiring heavy-lift fully certified launch vehicles. The Lane 1 program is valued at $5.6 billion over five years and has already awarded its first task orders to SpaceX.
Competitive landscape
Rocket Lab’s potential entry into the NSSL competition comes amid a capacity crunch in the launch industry. Currently, SpaceX has achieved near-dominance in the field, with United Launch Alliance (ULA) contributing fewer launches as it retires its workhorse Atlas 5 rocket and works through delays in the certification of its Vulcan Centaur. Blue Origin has also faced development hurdles with its New Glenn rocket.
“It’s not controversial to say that there’s a monopoly in medium launch right now,” said Beck. “The U.S. government and commercial customers want some diversity of supply.”
Beck said Rocket Lab’s track record with its small-satellite launch vehicle, Electron, lends credibility to its bid. Since its debut in 2017, Electron has flown to orbit 52 times from launch sites in New Zealand and in Virginia, with 48 successes and four failures.
Fast track to development
Beck said he remains confident but pragmatic about Neutron’s timeline. “Overall, things are kind of tracking,” he added. “But it’s a rocket program.”
Unveiled just three years ago, the Neutron rocket is intended to deliver medium-lift payloads to low Earth orbit (LEO), with a capacity to carry approximately 13,000 kilograms. The first stage, powered by nine Archimedes engines, is designed for frequent reuse.
In August, Rocket Lab reached a significant milestone when it conducted the first static fire test of the Archimedes engine, fueled by methane and liquid oxygen. The test took place at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Beck noted that Rocket Lab has continued to produce engines for Neutron’s qualification campaign. “We’re running engines just constantly,” he said. The qualification testing campaign is taking place at a former Virgin Orbit facility in Long Beach, California, which Rocket Lab acquired following that company’s bankruptcy.
Rocket Lab has received government support for Neutron’s development, including $24 million from the Space Force to support work on the rocket’s second stage. Overall, Rocket Lab expects the development cost for Neutron to range between $250 million and $300 million.
Rocket Lab is constructing Neutron’s launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The company is also working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to secure a launch license.
“Contrary to some others, we have a really fantastic relationship with the FAA,” Beck said, in an apparent reference to SpaceX’s recent regulatory disputes.
‘End-to-end’ defense solutions
Rocket Lab’s goals in the defense market go beyond launch services. The company’s Space Systems division, which builds satellite components and full spacecraft, wants to provide “end-to-end solutions” to the government, said Beck.
The Space Force last year selected Rocket Lab to build and launch an in-space surveillance satellite. Known as Victus Haze, the 2025 mission will demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations, meaning the Rocket Lab satellite will approach and observe another satellite in space made by the startup True Anomaly.
Currently, Rocket Lab’s space systems business has a backlog of 42 satellite projects for various clients, including the Space Force’s Space Development Agency and commercial communications company Globalstar.