Rocket Lab secured more than $515 million in contracts for its unflown Neutron rocket last quarter while hiking the vehicle’s base price from $55 million to $70 million, the company announced on November 9, 2026.
The eight new missions stem from five separate customers, bringing the medium-lift rocket’s order backlog to 16 flights before its inaugural launch. Rocket Lab said its next available launch slots are now in the 2030s, even though the vehicle’s debut flight remains scheduled for 2027.
The largest order in the latest batch came from ICEYE, a Finnish-founded synthetic aperture radar satellite operator. ICEYE booked three dedicated launches starting in late 2028 to support its constellation, which provides night and all-weather imaging utilized by governments and military forces, including Ukraine.
The U.S. Space Force also secured a dedicated launch for its Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program, known as SB-AMTI. That program is designed to track airborne targets from orbit, taking over a role currently handled by heavy radar aircraft like the E-3 Sentry.
Additional contracts include two launches booked by U.S. manufacturer Muon Space for 2029 and 2030, a 2029 launch for space data center firm Starcloud, and an agreement with Canadian provider Kepler Communications earlier in the quarter, defence-blog.com reported.
Designed as a reusable carbon composite vehicle, Neutron is built to carry up to 13,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit. The rocket bridges the performance gap between Rocket Lab’s smaller Electron launcher and heavier vehicles like SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
Neutron is rapidly establishing itself as the backbone of next-generation constellation deployment and government missions in the medium-lift launch class,
said Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Officer Sir Peter Beck.
Alongside commercial deals, Neutron is positioned for national security missions. Rocket Lab previously secured selection for a $5.6 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under the U.S. Space Force’s National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 program, according to corporate releases from rocketlabcorp.com. That program runs through June 2029 and requires the vehicle to complete a successful debut flight before competing for individual task orders.
