Rocket Lab to Acquire Iridium, & Takeaways from Investor Meetings in the UAE: Reiterate Overweight - Cantor's Take

Research evidence excerpt

Rocket Lab to Acquire Iridium, & Takeaways from Investor Meetings in the UAE: Reiterate Overweight - Cantor's Take

June 30, 2026

meetings, RKLB's management discussed the possibility of its competitor

discontinuing the Falcon 9 medium-lift rocket (in favor of next-generation

heavy-lift system), which we believe can result in a material increase in

customer demand, once Neutron is operational. To date, Rocket Lab has

completed 91 successful launches (12 YTD), including 21 launches in FY25

and 16 launches in FY24. For this year, we continue to model 27 total

launches across both Electron and Haste. Overall, we continue to see the

successful track record and heritage as a main differentiator in the industry,

particularly given the lack of alternative launch providers in the industry for

small and medium-sized launches.

Selected by NASA for Three Electron Launches. Last week, on 6/25,

RKLB announced that it will launch three dedicated Electron rockets for

PolSIR and TSIS 2 (two science missions for NASA) beginning in 1H27.

The PolSIR mission will require two consecutive Electron launches to

deploy identical CubeSats to study ice cloud formation and behavior in the

tropics. The TSIS-2 mission will fly on a single Electron in early 2027 to

measure solar irradiance at the top of Earth's atmosphere, according to

the company. Additional upcoming NASA missions on Electron include the

Aspera astrophysics mission later in 2026 and the LOXSAT in-space refueling

demonstration (including RKLB's own Photon spacecraft).

Space Systems: >66% of Total Revenue, and & Golden Dome

Opportunities. Rocket Lab's Space Systems currently contributes >66% of

the company's total revenue, led in large part by its SDA awards. RKLB's

SDA Tranche 2 award has an aggregate value of $515M, which includes a