Rocket Lab Announces Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2025 Financial Results
Posts Record Quarterly Revenue of $180M, Record Annual Revenue of $602M, Delivering Annual Growth of 38% and Growing Backlog 73% Year-on-Year to $1.85B
LONG BEACH, Calif., Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab”, “the Company”, “we,” “us,” or “our”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today shared the financial results for fiscal fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, said: “2026 was a record-breaking year for Rocket Lab financially and operationally. We delivered record quarterly revenue of $180 million, which brought our full year revenue to a record $602 million, representing 38% growth year on year. We reached a new annual launch record, flying 21 missions across Electron and HASTE with a 100% success rate for the year, and also reached significant qualification milestones in the development of Neutron, our new medium-lift launch vehicle. At the same time we were awarded Rocket Lab’s largest single contract to date, an $816 million contract from the Space Development Agency to design and manufacture 18 satellites for the Tracking Layer Tranche 3 program under the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. It was also the quarter in which two spacecraft we built for NASA and the University of California Berkeley were successfully launched toward Mars for the historic ESCAPADE mission, proving Rocket Lab can deliver decadal class science missions on rapid timelines for a fraction of the cost of traditional interplanetary programs. We ended the year with a record $1.85 billion in backlog, representing 73% year-on-year growth, a figure we look forward to building upon in 2026.”
Business Highlights for the Fourth Quarter 2025, plus updates since December 31, 2025.
- Launched seven missions in Q4 2025, a new quarterly record, and also achieved a new annual launch record with 21 Electron missions flown in 2025 with 100% mission success. Three of these 2025 launches were HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) missions delivering hypersonic suborbital test launch capability, a key priority for the Department of War needed to support initiatives such as Golden Dome.
- Signed more than 30 new launch contracts in 2025 with a diverse customer base spanning U.S. national defense and security, commercial constellations, and new and returning customers.
- Awarded $816m prime contract by the Space Development Agency to design and build a constellation of 18 advanced missile warning, tracking, and defense spacecraft. The contract further cements Rocket Lab’s position as the disruptive and preferred new prime, winning contracts historically reserved for legacy aerospace contractors.
- Twin spacecraft designed, built, and operated by Rocket Lab were successfully launched for NASA and University of California Berkeley’s ESCAPADE mission to Mars.
- Completed production of LOXSAT, an advanced spacecraft designed and built by Rocket Lab to enable an on-orbit cryogenic fueling demonstration for NASA.
- Introduced new advanced silicon solar arrays to power gigawatt-scale space-based data centers spanning kilometers in orbit, harnessing infinitely abundant solar energy to support surging A.I. and compute demand on Earth.
- Acquired Optical Support Inc, a leader in design and manufacture of custom, high-precision optical and optomechanical instruments. It’s the latest move in Rocket Lab’s vertically integration strategy, bringing high-performance optical payload technology into the Company to unlock high value national security and commercial spacecraft opportunities.
- Acquired Precision Components Limited, expanding Rocket Lab’s high volume, precision manufacturing capabilities.
- Selected by the Missile Defense Agency for the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, positioning Rocket Lab to compete for future launch and space systems contracts up to a total of $151 billion to deliver capabilities to the warfighter with increased agility.
- Welcomed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to Rocket Lab’s Engine Development Complex in Long Beach as part of the Arsenal of Freedom Tour, highlighting the critical support Rocket Lab provides for defense and national security priorities.
- Successfully qualified Neutron’s Hungry Hippo fairing and delivered it to the Assembly and Integration Complex in Virginia ready for final integration and end-to-end systems testing.
- Completed successful qualification for Neutron’s thrust structure and entered qualification phase for the interstage, both critical development milestones for the Neutron development program.
- Updated the Neutron development schedule following the stage 1 tank test failure, with Neutron’s first launch now targeted for Q4 2026.
First Quarter 2026
Guidance
For the first quarter of 2026,
Rocket Lab expects:
- Revenue between $185 million and $200 million.
- GAAP Gross Margins between 34% and 36%.
- Non-GAAP Gross Margins between 39% and 41%.
- GAAP Operating Expenses between $120 million and $126 million.
- Non-GAAP Operating Expenses between $106 million and $112 million.
- Interest Income, net $8.0 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA loss of between $21 million and $27 million.
- Basic Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding of 605 million, including approximately 46 million of Series A Convertible Participating Preferred Shares.
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