Rocket Lab Awarded $14m in Contracts to Supply Satellite Separation Systems for Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 9, 2022--

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, has been awarded two contracts worth a total of $14 million to provide satellite separation systems for Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) satellites. Rocket Lab will supply more than 80 total Lightband Separation Systems (Lightbands) to prime contractor Lockheed Martin and another an undisclosed customer, both of whom are manufacturing satellites for the SDA’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer.

Lightbands are separation systems that are used to attach satellites to rockets and release them in space once the rocket reaches its intended orbit. Rocket Lab’s separation systems were designed by Planetary Systems Corp, which was acquired by the Company in 2021, and have a 100% mission success rate across more than 140 missions. Compared to typical clamp band separation systems, Rocket Lab’s Lightbands are lighter weight, have a lower profile, shock and tip-off rate, and have attained the highest Technology Readiness Level by the US Government.

Part of the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), SDA’s Transport Layer will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms. T1TL consists of a mesh network of 126 optically-interconnected space vehicles and will form the initial warfighting capability tranche of the NDSA.