[[Home|🏠]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> [[Earnings Calls]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> 2025 Q1 >[!summary] >In Q1 2025, Rocket Lab reported $123 million in revenue—a 32% year-over-year increase—driven by strong performance across launch and space systems, including five successful Electron missions and key contracts for its upcoming Neutron rocket. >The company was selected as one of only five launch providers under the DoD’s $5.6B NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1, received a $5M task order for mission assurance demonstrations, and secured a U.S. Air Force point-to-point Neutron experiment for no earlier than 2026. Rocket Lab also expanded its HASTE suborbital launch offering, receiving a MACH-TB 2.0 award from Kratos and becoming eligible for hypersonic test missions under the U.S. Air Force’s $46B EWAAC and the UK MOD’s $1.3B HTCDF frameworks. In space systems, the company announced intent to acquire Mynaric to enhance laser comms capabilities and scale European production. New product lines—STARRAY solar arrays, updated Frontier radios, and constellation management software—bolstered its end-to-end space platform. >Financially, Rocket Lab posted a GAAP operating loss of $59.2M and adjusted EBITDA loss of $30M, with Q2 guidance projecting $130–$140M in revenue and a corporate restructuring into a holding company (Rocket Lab Corporation) expected by June 1, 2025, to better align with U.S. national security and international expansion goals. > [📊 Earnings Presentation](https://s28.q4cdn.com/737637457/files/doc_financials/2025/q1/Q1-2025-Earnings-Presentation.pdf) [📰 Official Press Release](https://investors.rocketlabusa.com/news/news-details/2025/Rocket-Lab-Announces-First-Quarter-2025-Financial-Results-Posting-Quarterly-Revenue-of-123m-Representing-32-Year-on-Year-Growth/default.aspx) [💰 Financial Statement 10-Q](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001819994/77f92c97-9a88-4758-b21f-16608472f7bd.pdf) [💰 Financial Statement 8-K](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001819994/cfb4cc57-bcb1-485b-adcf-7dd9e96f4746.pdf)  🔗 Backup Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1RlJMSKozI ## 🎙️ Transcript ### Opening and Conference Call Setup **Operator (Jessica):** Thank you for standing by. My name is Jessica and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to Rocket Lab first quarter 2025 financial results update and conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker remarks there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question simply press star one again. Thank you. At this time I would like to turn the call over to Muriel Baker, senior communications manager. Muriel you may begin. **Muriel Baker (Senior Communications Manager):** Thank you. Hello and welcome to today's conference call to discuss Rocket Lab's first quarter 2025 financial results. Before we begin the call I'd like to remind you that our remarks may contain forward-looking statements that relate to the future performance of the company and these statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbor protection from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and factors that could influence our results are highlighted in today's press release and others are contained in our filings with the security and exchange commission. Such statements are based upon information available to the company as of the date hereof and are subject to change for future developments except as required by law. The company does not undertake any obligation to update these statements. Our remarks and press release today also contain non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of regulation G enacted by the SEC. Included in such release and our supplemental materials are reconciliations of these historical non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. This call is also being webcast with a supporting presentation and a replay and copy of the presentation will be available on our website. Our speakers today are Rocket Lab founder and chief executive officer Sir Peter Beck as well as chief financial officer Adam Spice. They will be discussing key business highlights including updates on our launch systems programs and we will discuss financial highlights and outlook before we finish by taking questions. So with that let me turn the call over to Sir Peter. ### CEO Opening Remarks **Sir Peter Beck (CEO):** Thanks Muriel and thanks everybody for joining us today. While we had a very strong start for 2025 across the business, I want to provide a bit of an update as we build towards our future as a constellation owner and operator. As we take you through our achievements for the quarter keep this in mind how every milestone and every mission brings us closer to that more lucrative piece of the space value chain. We continue to launch and book more and more [[Electron]] missions proving we hold the keys to space with regular launch access. As [[Neutron]] wraps(?) closer to the pad we also get closer to having a 13 ton reusable launch vehicle that can deploy our own satellites with speed and cost efficiency. We're also generating revenue through the missions we'll fly for our national security and commercial customers. Having gone after the full space ecosystem with satellites launch vehicles and everything in between our deep vertical integration is one of our distinct competitive advantages. And while it's bringing us closer to our strategic end goal this quarter it's also served us well against a backdrop of dynamic international trade environments ensuring that we have the supply chain locked with secure and predominantly US-based manufacturing. So with that let me move on to some more specifics for the quarter. ### Q1 2025 Financial Highlights We've posted a near record quarterly revenue of $122.6 million, nudging to the top end of our prior guidance and up 32% compared to last year. We have another strong looking quarter on the horizon with the midpoint of our guidance range for Q2 pointed to another record setting quarter for the business. And I'll let Adam go into those details a little bit later. [0:04:02] On the launch side demand is soaring. We booked eight new [[Electron]] and [[Haste]] missions for Q1 and at the same time launched five missions with 100% mission success. Three of those took flight within just 13 days of each other and there is demand from our customers for more than 20 launches this year. For [[Neutron]], the selection to the DoD's high-value launch contract NSSL program is really the headline for the quarter. I'll go into more detail about what this means and how we plan to deliver against it in the later slides. And in space systems it only took 15 days to bring back the second in-space manufacturing mission for [[Varda Space Industries|Varda]] before our third spacecraft was launched to space and began its operations. A real demonstration of the speed and capability we've developed to deliver consistently reliable spacecraft for our customers. So there's lots to get excited about this past quarter. So without further ado let's dig in. ### Small Launch - Electron Updates First up, turning to small launch. So Electron continues to prove why it's the global leader with five missions in the quarter all across only six and a half weeks, proving that even when our customers are ready to go with their payloads so are we. Looking ahead next weekend's mission for the multi-launch customer [[iQPS]] will be the first of six in a row that are flying back-to-back out of launch complex 1. [0:05:22] Electron makes frequent and reliable launch look easy, but if we take a look back over the past decade it really shows that Electron has really cemented itself as the preeminent small launch provider. Electron really has scaled to provide the majority of American commercial small launch. A focus on execution, smart use of capital to scale launch cadence and production and a solid and reliable product is what it takes to succeed. A few others have been able to achieve that in the same way we have with Electron. That really goes to show what an impact Electron has had and continues to have on the industry in delivering trusted and reliable access to space for small satellite operators, and Neutron is set to do exactly the same, obviously. ### Haste Hypersonic Test Vehicle [0:06:00] Moving on to [[HASTE]] and the hypersonic test vehicle continues to be a sought-after capability both domestically and internationally. Both the US and the United Kingdom have picked HASTE to develop sovereign hypersonic technology for their multi-billion dollar defense programs. We've been selected to participate within the US Air Force's [[EWAAC]] program, a $46 billion indefinite delivery indefinite quantity program. The second program we've been on-ramped to is a $1.3 billion framework by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense as it works to shore up its hypersonics capabilities. This is Haste's first international call-up and a proud moment for the team to be able to contribute to the collective security of the United States and its allies. We've also landed another Haste launch contract through [[Kratos]] for the Department of Defense MACH-TB program. So that's seven missions now with Haste for MACH-TB making us one of the most prolific commercial launch providers on that flagship DoD program. Regular hypersonic flight tests are critical to developing the technology and infrastructure needed to keep countries safe and HASTE is right at the center of that effort. ### Neutron Development Updates [0:07:17] Now on to Neutron. Momentum is building for Neutron on the back of a really significant progress we made in 2024. The big news item in this quarter has been our on-ramp to the Pentagon's high-value launch contract national security space launch program. This is the most competitive launch program in the industry to fly the DoD's highest priority and most critical missions. Our selection to it is a huge vote of confidence by the Pentagon in Neutron and affirms us as one of the most capable American launch providers. We're also the only publicly traded company to ever onboard to NSSL. Once we're clear of Neutron's first launch, we'll be bidding for task orders under the phase 3 lane one program which has a total value of $5.6 billion and an ordering period through to June 2029. We've already completed a kickoff meeting with the full contingent of future mission partners including the US Space Force Assured Access to Space, NRO Office of Space Launch and other stakeholders from across the government. This was part of a $5 million task order for a mission assurance showcase that came with Neutron selection. Entry into NSSL is the type of disruptive competition the US government and the industry has been asking for. Missions for defense and intelligence satellites used to be dominated by legacy launch providers. And the DoD has been upfront about wanting new partners with innovative approaches that bring increased competition. That's exactly what we set out to achieve with Neutron and I'm excited to deliver it once we start flying later this year. [0:08:49] I'm also pleased to announce our latest contract for Neutron. We've been selected to fly a US Air Force Research Lab mission that supports point-to-point cargo transportation in a multi-manifest mission. It's all part of a program by the AFRL to create rapid delivery systems for defense cargo using commercial launch vehicles and a multi-year effort. Since the mission is all about bringing things back to Earth, AFRL will fly on a return to Earth Neutron no earlier than 2026. We know re-entry and rocket reusability is a critical advancement in space tech that the DoD is highly supportive of, which is why Neutron has been designed from the get-go for reuse and frequency. And the latest contract is a show of confidence from the DoD in our ability to deliver that. ### Technical Updates for Neutron [0:09:39] Moving on to some technical updates. It's a big green tick for Neutron second stage qualification campaign, proving out the stage's design operations and readiness for launch later this year. We ran launch-like operations across its full combination of flight software, hardware, avionics, guidance navigation control systems. And we also proof tested it to more than 125% of its design point. Some of that including applying more than 1.3 million pounds of force in tension across the carbon composite structure. Now the second stage is one of the more novel pieces of Neutron. So it was important that we retired that risk first. The added benefit of that of course is that the structure of stage two is largely similar to stage one. So by completing this qualification campaign first we bought down a lot of the same risks that we may have seen in stage one. Having passed with flying colors, Neutron stage 2 is now going through final assembly and will be shipped to the launch site in the next few months in preparation for stage testing with the engine. [0:10:37] Now Neutron's pointy end, the stage one upper module is also close to completion as well. This is obviously more than what you saw last quarter with just the hungry hippo fairings. This is the full module and it includes all the major stage one elements like canards, interstage along with all of its mechanical systems like actuators, locks, avionic systems and running all the flight software. The full assembly represents some of the most complex mechanical systems that exist on the vehicle and they all performed seamlessly during testing. We're just a few small finishing touches away from another big tick on the road to launch for Neutron for that whole section. [0:11:14] All of the rocket puzzle pieces are really starting to come together now. And look if we can ship them around the country we can also fly them. And I think everybody knows how much I like helicopters. But even at their size, Neutron's carbon composite material makes them light enough to move large pieces around by helicopter which is what we did earlier this quarter to help bring Neutron stage one hardware together and place it all at our facility in Baltimore. While the majority of the rocket is assembled here, given the size of the rocket and the road it has to travel on to launch complex 3, Neutron is shipped in stages before it's fully integrated as an entire rocket. [0:11:55] Over at launch complex 3 in Virginia we're on schedule and close to finishing Neutron's launchpad. With everything in its place the team is working around the clock to complete all the integration and activate the pad. One of those more recent campaigns was the water deluge test. Turns out there is water on Wallops Island because we pump thousands of gallons of it through our pipes. The flow rate was the equivalent to an Olympic size swimming pool every 40 seconds and event planning is underway for the ribbon cutting there soon as well. Because launch complex 3 really is an important new addition not just for the state but for the whole nation. With Neutron's on-ramp to NSSL, Rocket Lab will be the first to fly for the program out of Virginia and that really highlights the importance of the pad as a critical national security asset. [0:12:46] At the engine test site in Mississippi, the propulsion team is doubling down on Archimedes. We're hot-firing flat out as you would expect with flight avionics and full software stacks. And the team is busy tuning the engine through a barrage of tests. We've also just completed the build of a second engine test cell that's now up and running to enable testing two engines at the same time. So as you can see we're steadily making our way along the path to the pad. We've ticked off some big wins recently and every element of the vehicle is being worked simultaneously. Yes it's an aggressive schedule that we have ahead of us but that's how we've delivered new rockets to the pad before. And a reminder that the schedule that you see here is not sequential. Actually everything is happening at once and in parallel. Good example of this is the launch license to fly. There's a strong possibility that the paperwork will only come in days before launch just like it did for our first Electron flight from Virginia but that doesn't mean we stop everything else from taking place that needs to be done before we get that. So with no major issues we're really still targeting the first launch by the second half of this year. ### Space Systems Updates [0:13:56] Now let's turn to updates across space systems. Just before the quarter closed we announced our intent to acquire Mynaric, a German company specializing in laser-based satellite communications. This intended acquisition still has to make its way through all the approvals but otherwise is progressing well. And so I want to take this opportunity to get into the details behind why we decided to pursue this acquisition and its strategic importance to the growth of our business. A key piece of any large constellation is the ability to communicate between spacecraft with high-speed and secure connections. Often that's laser based and the technology that Mynaric has developed is some of the best in the world. Beyond the technology this deal also sees us set down our first European footprint in Munich with extensive production assets, intellectual property, product inventory and a committed backlog for future constellations. There's a clear line of sight to European growth opportunities in this deal. And we'll be looking to expand the existing team of talented engineers and staff to meet international demand. Now by bringing the terminals in house, we will add a new element to our spacecraft supply chain that improves our product line and strengthens our position in commercial national security and defense contracts. Mynaric terminals are already being supplied for our half a billion dollar contract with the space development agency along with many other companies, making this even more of a logical integration. We've proven across all of our acquisitions to date that we can take a highly sought-after product, scale it and make it available in high volume. It's our full intention to do the same here again by expanding into Europe and to bring Mynaric terminals to the world and potentially for our own constellation too. So I'm excited about the potential of this deal and we'll be sure to keep you updated on its progress. [0:15:47] Turning to our Varda missions, and very soon we'll be bringing their third in-space manufacturing capsule back to Earth with our Pioneer spacecraft. This mission launched in Q1 just 2 weeks after the return of the second capsule and since then our spacecraft has been providing power, communications, propulsion, attitude control to keep Varda's capsule in orbit. The process has now begun to position Pioneer and Varda for Earth re-entry over Australia. So keep an eye out for updates on the mission in the coming weeks. Meanwhile the team is working hard at wrapping up the integration and testing for our fourth and final Pioneer spacecraft in the Varda contract in Long Beach. ### CFO Takes Over After Technical Difficulties [0:16:40] *[Technical difficulties with Peter Beck's connection]* **Adam Spice (CFO):** Hey operator, until we can get Pete back on the line, I'll just pick up where he left off. **Operator:** Okay that would be great. Thank you so much. ### Product Expansion and Development **Adam Spice:** Great. Thanks everybody. Yeah this is Adam Spice CFO at Rocket Lab. So I'll pick up where Pete was discussing our product expansion and our suite of space systems components and mission software is constantly under development allowing us to consistently produce and release new products that really move the needle for the industry and for us. I'll quickly take you through a couple of our latest releases. [0:17:15] With STARRAY we've introduced a line of modular solar arrays for satellites that are customizable to meet all their power needs. With multiple different panel dimensions that small satellite operators can choose from, it's a plug-and-play solution at a low cost that helps to speed up small satellite development for our customers. And we've got contracts already to supply these customizable wings to constellations under development right now. We've also expanded our suite of Frontier satellite radios that are compatible with the industry's most important global ground stations. And on the software side we've introduced the next-gen versions of our highly popular MAX software packages for satellite guidance and control. The software behind Intermission for ground data and space operations and MAX Constellation for software control of satellite constellations is the same that helped land a commercial lunar lander on the moon earlier this year, supported NASA's Capstone mission, DARPA's Blackjack program and which commands our Pioneer spacecraft for our Varda missions. ### Business Development and M&A Activity [0:18:16] Next we've also had an extremely active quarter pursuing new opportunities for space systems that further scales our vertical integration. We're pursuing several large government and commercial contracts that would see us building entire constellations of satellites not just individual spacecraft. These are industry scaling and shaping constellation builds that would tap our full space systems value chain and realize significant value that reshapes our business. And on the M&A side we have a half dozen deals in the pipeline as we continue to expand our vertical integration. There's high potential in all of this and we've expanded a lot as a company with our eyes set on Europe and international expansion as well as the deepening national security work that we're taking on through space systems and launch. ### Corporate Structure Update [0:19:01] The time is right for a new company structure that makes it simpler and more efficient to manage the business and our growth particularly when it comes to US government classified programs. Our new parent company Rocket Lab Corporation will replace Rocket Lab USA Inc as the public company listed on the NASDAQ. Existing shares of Rocket Lab will automatically convert on a one for one basis into shares of common stock of Rocket Lab Corporation which will keep the RKLB ticker symbol. Trading is expected to continue uninterrupted on the NASDAQ and there will be no impact to shareholders ownership or rights. We should have the new company structure wrapped up by the end of the month. ### Financial Highlights for Q1 2025 [0:19:42] And with that I'll transition over to the review of the financial highlights for the quarter. The first quarter 2025 revenue was $122.6 million which was at the high end of our prior guidance range and reflects significant year-over-year growth of 32.1% driven by strong contribution from both business segments but led by Space Systems. First quarter revenue declined 7.4% sequentially primarily due to the mix of lower-priced electron emissions in the quarter paired with an aggregate reduction in our components businesses with both of these headwinds expected to reverse and convert into tailwinds in Q2. Our launch services segment delivered revenue of $35.6 million reflecting a slight step down in average selling price. However our current backlog for Electron and Haste backlog continues to support an increasing ASP with some variability quarterly tied to volume purchase commitments, launch location and mission assurance requirements. Although variable quarter-to-quarter we expect ASP for the calendar year 2025 to materially expand when compared to 2024 and with that continued gross margin expansion. Our space system segment delivered $87 million in the quarter reflecting a sequential decline of 3.4% driven by our attitude determination and control systems and separation systems businesses. ### Gross Margins [0:21:10] Now turning to gross margin. GAAP gross margin for the first quarter was 28.8% above our prior guidance range of 25 to 27%. Non-GAAP gross margin for the first quarter was 33.4% which was also above our prior guidance range of 30 to 32%. GAAP gross margin improved sequentially owing to an improved mix in satellite manufacturing partially offset by a decline in launch margin segment primarily related to lower average selling price. Non-GAAP gross margin was down slightly sequentially due to a lower stock-based compensation adjustment under our EAC program accounting. Relatedly we ended Q1 with production related headcount of 1,088 up 84 from the prior quarter. ### Backlog Update [0:22:00] Turning to backlog, we ended Q1 2025 with $1.067 billion of total backlog with launch backlog of $422.2 million and space systems backlog of $644.8 million. While overall backlog growth has been modest, launch backlog nearly doubled year-over-year with strong underlying trends as we convert a very strong pipeline of Neutron, Electron and Haste opportunities. Space systems bookings remain lumpy given the timing of increasingly larger needle moving customer program opportunities but remain at a healthy level despite a step up in revenue run rate over the last few quarters. We continue to cultivate a healthy pipeline including multi-launch deals and large satellite manufacturing contracts that as mentioned earlier can create lumpiness in backlog growth given the size and complexity of these opportunities. Relatedly in Pete's earlier comments he referenced being on-ramped recently to some very large and strategic procurement programs including the very large and exciting NSSL program in addition to a few multi-billion dollar hypersonics programs domestically and abroad which now set the stage for exciting backlog expanding task order bidding. Getting on-ramp was the required milestone to unlock this potential. So we're very excited about what's to come. We expect approximately 56% of current backlog to be recognized as revenues within 12 months and we continue to get relatively quick turn business that drive topline growth beyond current 12-month backlog conversion. ### Operating Expenses [0:23:35] Turning to operating expenses, GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter of 2025 were $94.4 million within our guidance range of $93 to $95 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter were $76.8 million up $2.3 million sequentially which was just below our guidance range of $77 to $79 million. The sequential increases in both GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses were primarily driven by continued growth in prototype and headcount related spending to support our Neutron development program. Specifically investment has increased to support Neutron propulsion as we continue to qualify Archimedes and mechanical and composite structures supporting the fairing and tank fabrication ahead of the first flight this year. In R&D specifically, GAAP expenses increased $6.9 million quarter-on-quarter due to the ramping up of the Archimedes production paired with increased expenses related to mechanical systems and composites. Non-GAAP R&D expenses were up $4 million quarter-on-quarter driven similarly to the GAAP expenses. Q1 ending R&D headcount was 923 representing an increase of 95 from the prior quarter. In SG&A, GAAP expenses decreased $800,000 quarter-on-quarter due to a decrease in outside services. Within that GAAP spend we reported non-recurring transaction costs of $1.4 million in Q1 due to continued corporate development activities including advancing a robust pipeline of M&A opportunities. Non-GAAP SG&A expenses decreased modestly by $1.7 million due primarily to a decrease in software licenses. Q1 ending SG&A headcount was 332 representing an increase of three from the prior quarter. In summary, total first quarter headcount was 2,343 up 182 heads from the prior quarter. ### Cash Flow and Capital Expenditure [0:25:40] Turning to cash, purchases of property equipment and capitalized software licenses were $28.7 million in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of $7.2 million from the $21.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 as we accelerated our LC3 construction activities and expanded our additive manufacturing capacity to support Archimedes scaling. As we continue to invest in Neutron R&D testing and scaling production we expect increased capital expenditures to continue leading up to Neutron's first flight. GAAP operating cash flow was a negative $54.2 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to a negative $2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The sequential growth in negative GAAP operating cash flow of $51.8 million was driven primarily by materially lumpy cash receipts from our largest satellite programs paired with continued Neutron investment and long-lead procurement supporting SDA as well as subsequent Neutron vehicle bill of materials and related infrastructure including the recovery landing barge to scale Neutron's cadence beyond its initial test flight. Overall non-GAAP free cash flow defined as GAAP operating cash flow less purchases of property equipment and software in the first quarter of 2025 was a use of $82.9 million compared to a use of $23.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, again driven by lumpy cash receipts and disbursements. The ending balance of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities was $517 million at the end of the first quarter of 2025. The sequential increase in liquidity is due to the at-the-market equity offering that we announced earlier in the quarter which generated $92.8 million in gross proceeds through quarter end which is intended to fund growth including future acquisitions such as the Mynaric acquisition along with general corporate purposes. As such we exit Q1 in a strong position to execute on our organic expansion initiatives as well as inorganic options to further vertically integrate our supply chain with strategic capabilities and expand our addressable market consistent with what we have done successfully in the past. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $30 million in the first quarter of 2025 better than our guidance range of $33 to $35 million loss. Sequential increase of $6.8 million of adjusted loss was driven by a slight decline in revenue growth paired with an increase in Neutron R&D during the quarter. ### Q2 2025 Guidance [0:28:18] And with that let's turn to our guidance for the second quarter of 2025. We expect revenue in the second quarter to range between $130 and $140 million representing slightly greater than 10% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth. At the midpoint we expect meaningful expansion in both GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins in the second quarter with GAAP gross margins to range between 30% to 32% and non-GAAP gross margins to range between 34% to 36%. These forecasted GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins reflect improvement in launch ASP and overhead absorption. We expect second quarter GAAP operating expenses to range between $96 and $98 million and non-GAAP operating expenses to range between $82 and $84 million. The quarter-on-quarter increases to be driven primarily by continued Neutron investment across staff costs, prototyping and materials. We expect second quarter GAAP and non-GAAP net interest expense to be $3.1 million. We expect second quarter adjusted EBITDA loss to range between $28 million and $30 million and basic weighted average common shares outstanding to be approximately 514 million shares which includes convertible preferred shares of approximately 51 million. Lastly consistent with last quarter we believe negative non-GAAP-free cash flow in the second quarter will remain at an elevated level in the range of $40 million to $80 million excluding any potential offsetting effects of financing under our existing equipment lending facility. And with that we'll hand the call over to the operator for questions. ### Q&A Session [0:29:52] **Operator:** Great. Thank you so much. Again if you'd like to ask a question please press star one on your telephone keypad to enter your question into the queue. And our first question comes from the line of Edison Yu with Deutsche Bank. Edison your line is open. #### Mynaric Acquisition Strategy **Edison Yu (Deutsche Bank):** Hey good afternoon team. Thank you for taking our questions. First one want to ask about Mynaric. It's a public company so we've obviously seen some of the struggles that they've had. After you're doing your announcements or due diligence on it what do you think is the kind of the biggest issue they've had and the plan to address that so you can scale it up? **Peter Beck:** I can take that one if you want Adam. And at this point I think it's appropriate to make the statement that we can go to the moon but can't secure a telephone line. So my apologies for that. But the biggest issue there Edison is just production. And that's an area that obviously we're very very strong in. So as we look at them as a company they got a great product. There's been a tremendous amount of capital invested in the business to scale but there's just a few fundamentals there that we really feel we can jump in and fix. **Edison Yu:** And would you expect that ultimately to be quite a high margin product or at least similar to some of the merchant business that you do now? **Adam Spice:** Yeah I think when we look at how it folds into our overall portfolio of subsystems we think it's going to be very consistent. You know probably again I would say that scale is important to that business too, the number of terminals that get made. So as we ramp up into these programs, the ability to absorb the overhead will improve. So I think probably starts kind of more towards the average of our program and probably gets to be hopefully one of our better margin programs in the product lines in the portfolio. But I don't see it being vastly different in totality. It's going to be pretty consistent with our overall kind of blended margin for our components business. #### M&A Pipeline and Opportunities **Edison Yu:** Gotcha. And then kind of in relation to that you mentioned in the slide deck in the remarks that you still have several I think half a dozen potentially quite large opportunities in the pipeline. I'm wondering if you could maybe comment are you considering looking at actual operator assets so not just kind of tuck-in for components but other operators out there given there are some I would say fairly distressed assets. And would you kind of consider working with them or acquiring them in some way? **Peter Beck:** Yeah I mean we look at everything right. And some things like Mynaric are nice little tuck-ins to kind of bolster our vision and then we'll look across a range of things including much more needle-moving opportunities. Then I would say that to your point the opportunities right now to do interesting things are quite high. There's quite a lot of opportunity out there. Hence the reason why we make sure we're in a strong position to act on some of those opportunities. **Edison Yu:** Understood. And just quick housekeeping the space system margin was quite good in the first quarter. Is that a good run rate for going forward? **Adam Spice:** I think it is right. I think we're kind of now getting to the point in scale in the business where we're starting to deliver those better gross margins. So we do expect to continually expand our gross margins for the business in its entirety as we progress through 2025. Probably actually be more pronounced on the launch side than it will be on the space system side. I'd say almost certainly be more pronounced on the launch side because we just know that given the healthier mix on the ASP side along with an increase in cadence in the back half of the year sets that part of our business up quite well for significant margin expansion. And we think it'll pretty much - we're on track to kind of get to where we've been talking about where we wanted to be for the last few years as we exit 2025. So good news on the margin front for sure across both space systems and launch. #### Launch Margins and Cash Flow [0:35:04] **Gautam Khanna (TD Securities):** Yes thanks. Good afternoon guys. I was wondering could you just elaborate on the launch margins in the quarter what may have drove that variability down a little bit and if you could give us an update on your free cash expectations the cadence through the year that'd be very helpful. Thank you. **Adam Spice:** Yeah so the launch margins are - we've said consistently that our experience in ramping this launch business is it's very - there's a lot of fixed overhead and fixed expenses that go along with running this business. You have things like the standing cost of a launch range in New Zealand which is incredibly strategic but when it's underutilized it burdens the business with a lot of fixed costs that have to be absorbed. So cadence really is everything. And even though the cadence is relatively consistent Q1 versus where we see the business in Q2 and we do see an uptick in cadence in the back half of the year, it's really a combination of cadence which is the number one driving factor. And I'd say second factor would be the ASP and ASP can skew quite a bit. We've got volume launch deals that we price relatively aggressively because people are making long-term volume commitments to the business. And there's actually some synergies and efficiencies when you're doing kind of a rinse and repeat for launches because a lot of the GNC work is kind of done and we can reuse things like adapter plates and so forth for the payloads. But so that you get efficiency through scale and through cadence but also the ASPs can be quite different. Some of these missions that require more mission assurance and data delivery and so forth after the launch garner a higher ASP. So really we're looking in the back half of the year to be a combination of both of those positive factors. More cadence so more overhead absorption and a significantly better ASP as a result of some of the higher mission deliverables that we have to perform. So it's all goodness on that front. And when it comes to the cash flow dynamics as we progress through the year, again it's all about getting the first launch of Neutron off. That's why that's such an important thing. It's got all hands to the pump internally to make sure that we hit our objective of getting that off in the second half. And then it's also paired with - so a lot of the cash flow dynamics are tied to get that first launch off but there's also some things that we're doing in parallel to getting the first launch off which is kind of priming the business to be able to scale efficiently and rapidly after that first launch including things like investing in this return on investment barge and then also purchasing long lead inventory items for the subsequent Neutron vehicles. So you know some of those things you have to buy components 12 months or greater in advance. So we're leaning forward. We're purchasing those long lead items so that we'll be ready to scale production quickly. So I'd say that you should expect these elevated levels of negative free cash flow that we posted in Q1 to continue in Q2 and certainly in the second half of the year until we get that first launch off. And then we expect things to moderate and we can provide more color on that as we get closer to that milestone. #### Tariff Exposure [0:38:24] **Gautam Khanna:** I appreciate it. And one last one on tariffs. Can you size your exposure where you have the exposure if at all how it impacts the business? Thank you. **Adam Spice:** Yeah we can. I will say of course we're in a very dynamic situation. And who knows what the tariff environment is going to be like tomorrow or 2 weeks from now or 2 months from now but based on what we see today we're pretty fortunate in the fact that if you look at our Electron launch business, much of the cost for that is really New Zealand born right and where the product is manufactured New Zealand and launches out of New Zealand. Very few of our launches actually take place outside of New Zealand on Electron. And on our space systems business we're pretty fortunate that again we're very I say domestically source intensive. So much of what we manufacture on the space system side are manufactured in the United States. Where they're not manufactured in the United States they involve a high US content on the materials or bill of materials that go into those non-US produced parts. You can think of things like our reaction wheels that come out of Toronto. When you actually look at those reaction wheels there's a significant amount of US content in the electronics that go into these things like bearings and so forth. So I think overall we're pretty fortunate in the fact that we've got our manufacturing intensity largely lined up where we don't have a lot of exposure but again things could change. We don't - I think we don't have a crystal ball as to where things are going to be in the future but we think we're positioned better than most given the current environment. #### New Products and Pipeline [0:40:16] **Ryan Koontz (Needham):** Great. Thanks. I want to ask a little about the new products and kind of the pipeline of opportunities for that. Maybe starting with your new solar array products. Sounds like they're modular and maybe you can expand on kind of target applications for those products. **Peter Beck:** Yeah hey Ryan. Sure. So on the STARRAY in particular we had a lot of customers coming to us with quick turn opportunities where they need to get on orbit super quick. And the SolAero business had built a very nice way of building cells and panels and produce high quality things but the like super quick here's a complete array, it was not really a product that's readily available in the US right now in the market. So we saw that as an opportunity given what customers were asking for and it's a very modular thing so you can add multiple panels to the array and it just gets our customers on orbit much faster. The total opportunity for that product we'll have to wait and see. I mean we can only go off on what we see customers asking for. But we're very commercial in these things like we need a certain number of evidence of inquiry before we make those investments. But it also enables the company as a complete array manufacturer. Typically SolAero or historically just made cells and some panels but since the integration with Rocket Lab now we're able to add all of the other elements, deployment mechanisms, hinges and whatnot to produce these entire arrays. #### European Expansion [0:42:09] **Ryan Koontz:** Got it. That's really helpful. Peter thank you. And you mentioned opportunities in Europe. Can maybe summarize those at a high level? I assume maybe there's some sovereign government programs and as well commercial. Maybe you can expand on Europe. **Peter Beck:** Yeah so Europe we've been thinking about how we get into Europe for quite some time because Europe is a very protected market especially with the government programs through ESA and having a business that's able to work in those programs and having a footprint on the ground really does not just open us up to be able to provide solutions of the satellite terminals but basically a lot of our products. So it's actually pretty exciting TAM expansion and opportunity for us because like I say it's typically very very difficult to get involved with these large European programs unless you have a footprint there. **Ryan Koontz:** And Peter is that mostly from the space systems perspective or are you thinking launch as well? **Peter Beck:** Mostly space systems. I mean that the prominent opportunity for us here. #### SolAero Business Update [0:43:33] **Andre Madrid (BTIG):** Peter, Adam thanks for the question. You know real quick touch on SolAero. I understand maybe an update on the backlog there. How are things progressing in terms of working through some of that lower margin work that you guys still had? I know it was targeted to be done already and you guys are continuing to work towards that. So maybe just a status update. **Adam Spice:** Yeah I can take that one. So the we actually have done really well in driving the margin improvement in that business. When we acquired it was it maybe two and a half years ago. It was about almost three years ago now. Time flies. It was about a high single-digit gross margin business and if you look at actually the results this quarter we've gotten it to pretty much the model that we said we were going to get it to. So I think we've kind of maybe we were a couple quarters later than we maybe two or three quarters later but I think overall we've gotten it to where we want it to be. And I think more importantly it's been a very strategic addition to the portfolio and lets us be much much more competitive when bidding on these solutions to be a prime supplier into these growing constellation opportunities. So yeah I'm very happy kind of where we've been able to drop the gross margin progression on that business. I think we hopefully we have more upside to come on that but I think we can kind of check the box that we've gotten to into that neighborhood that we had originally promised we would. #### Mynaric Supply Chain [0:45:16] **Andre Madrid:** Yeah no I'd agree. Glad to hear that you guys have achieved that target. On Mynaric maybe just touching on the supply chain. I think when you guys announced the acquisition you mentioned that sourcing some key components due to shortages was somewhat difficult. Some semis in there some semi impact there. And that was kind of barring your ability to get or their ability then to get product out of the door. Is that still an issue or measures looking to be taken to I guess improve things on that front? **Peter Beck:** Yeah I mean I think some of the supply chain issue was obviously the company's distress. If you're a supplier into that that's a challenging place to supply into and make investments against. Obviously that goes away with Rocket Lab's ownership. So at least some of those supply chain issues get resolved. #### Electron Reusability Update [0:46:25] **Andre Madrid:** Got it. Got it. And then if I could just squeeze in one more. I mean we you guys talked at length about Neutron reusability and the value of that which was super helpful but can we get another update maybe on Electron reusability some milestones to look forward to? **Peter Beck:** Yeah. So Electron reusability is we've kind of paused that to put all efforts and all team on Neutron. We had an extremely talented reusability team on Electron and as we look across the business and where the priorities lie it's really is we can get a much bigger bang for our buck with all of those engineers working Neutron and taking their experience over there. So it was just a priorities decision that we've made within the company. It's obviously a Neutron sticker price is $55 million. So if you can get the majority of that back it's a much bigger impact than a rocket with a sticker price of $8.5 million. So yeah it was just a priority call within the company that we'll put that on pause until we get Neutron to the pad and flying. And as Adam said before it's all hands to the pump. **Andre Madrid:** Yeah. Yeah. No definitely. So those engineers were just moved over from one program to the other? No loss there right on a headcount basis? **Peter Beck:** No. Correct. Yeah. No no. They've yeah. #### Federal Budget Impact [0:48:02] **Matt Akers (Wells Fargo):** Hey guys good afternoon. Thanks for the question. I wanted to ask a couple on the federal budget. I guess one on Golden Dome if you guys are involved in some of the discussions there. Is there maybe an opportunity on kind of the space layer there? And then I guess the NASA budget was proposed to be cut pretty substantially. I don't think you guys have a ton of kind of direct exposure there but just curious if that's a risk if that does end up going through Congress. **Peter Beck:** Yeah hey Matt good question. So firstly on Golden Dome yes we intend to be a significant player in there. I mean we've already established ourselves as a prime contractor into national security programs and as Adam mentioned part of the reason to change the structure of the company into the corporation better enables us to address some of these very important national security programs. So no I would think we feel very good about Golden Dome and the capabilities we have not just in space systems but within launch and across the full gambit of opportunities there for sure. And then on the NASA side you called it right. We don't have tremendous amount of NASA work. We always - I personally have a bit of a soft spot for those interplanetary missions. So we always like to go after those and we continue to be a trusted launch provider for NASA but yeah so NASA doesn't form a tremendous amount of our pipeline nor our backlog. #### Backlog Recognition Timing [0:49:49] **Suji D Silva (Roth Capital):** Hi Peter. Hi Adam. Adam maybe on the financial... maybe a picking question but the percent of backlog that's recognizable in the next 12 months seems to be trending up on a secular basis. I would have thought if you have more multi-year contracts that would trend down. Am I thinking about that correctly or maybe you could clarify something? **Adam Spice:** Yeah. Well the backlog is you know it's a bit dynamic. I would say that if you look at the duration of a program like take the big like let's pick you know the SDA program for example and the Globalstar MDA program before that, they typically have a call it the meat of the revenue curve around three years, a little bit of a tail you know kind of on the front and back end of that but the bulk of the revenue recognition is within a three-year window and even more so if you kind of look where the area under the curve even more you know really concentrated at about 18 months. [0:50:57] And this really comes down to you know you earn some revenue as you're doing the work to kind of finalize the platform design and get through some of the early milestones of design reviews and so forth. But the real direct bulk comes when you're actually taking possession of materials like bill of materials because that's where the majority of the cost and under the EAC methodology of RevRec you know that's really where we get the majority of the revenue recognition. You'd think like you know it would be like stretchy a little more stretchy than it is but it's really not. It's much more compressed than you think. So it kind of when you think about where we are right now on for example SDA where we announced that program at the I believe it was the end of Q4 of 2023. You know we're like call it almost six quarters into that and now we're really kind of heading into the real meat of that RevRec cycle right so think of the majority of that revenue recognition is really going to happen now over the next six quarters at most. So you're really of the next four quarters are going to be pretty heavy and then they start to trend down which is why you know we talked about you know a lot of focus on backlog which is appropriate and you know we have you know all of our focus right now we've talked last few quarters about the importance of putting you know some the next big piece of backlog onto the books and that's what we're focused on. [0:52:15] And there's there are several as Pete mentioned that we're chasing including ones that are pretty well-known like you know obviously the next tranche of SDA is due for submission really really soon and we think we're well positioned to participate in that as well as some other programs you know commercial and government. So we look we think we're in really good shape there. And on the space system side, the components business is largely less it's not the really multi-year deals. It's much more kind of in the nearer term say 12 to 18 months. And when you look at the launch business you know I mentioned earlier getting through some of these kind of program on-ramp gates was really the milestone or the prerequisite to really opening up some really big meaningful opportunities particularly for Neutron right. So I think you're going to start that we've kind of knocked down all the barriers to start really kind of building that backlog in a more meaningful way. I mean a billion dollars is not nothing to be ashamed of but we think that has potential to grow significantly now as we've kind of gotten to the next phase of these big satellite programs that we think we're in good shape on and also being on ramp for Neutron exposure. So yeah it's I think it requires a little bit of patience but I think people when they look back over history have seen you know we've been successful in converting opportunities into backlog and we think we're even more confident now than we've ever been on being able to do that. #### Neutron Landing Infrastructure [0:53:31] **Suji D Silva:** Okay Adam that's very helpful. And then this question is maybe a little further out. Thinking about sort of Neutron and sort of the landing infrastructure strategy longer term. I wouldn't have thought about this for a few years but it's this AFRL announcement you had today about being a global logistics provider for them. I'm curious you know is it more than one ROI barge globally or how what are the elements of kind of re-entry and landing for Neutron that require investment potentially? **Peter Beck:** Yeah. Good question Suji. So it's primarily you know just a barge. It does have return to launch site capabilities as well and as cadence increases then there could be further assets you know needed to be deployed in forms of additional barges. The point-to-point cargo you know look that program is really at the very beginning you know of its development within the US government. So I think we're very much in the experimental phase. And it'll be interesting to see if that turns into you know full requirement for an operational capability. But it's good to be on that program and working on it early. **Suji D Silva:** No fair enough. Appreciate that. Thanks. **Peter Beck:** Cheers. [0:54:45] **Operator:** Your next question comes from the line of Jason Gursky with Citi. Jason the line is now open. #### SDA Constellation Strategy [0:54:29] **Jason Gursky (Citi):** Great. Thanks. Hey Peter, you mentioned in your comments about Mynaric that they've got quite a bit of backlog and are struggling with getting shipments out. But what I thought was more interesting about your comments though were how you might utilize that technology in future constellations that you plan to build and operate on your own. I'm just kind of curious the strategic rationale behind purchasing Mynaric. Was it more for that purpose and enabling your future constellation or was it more to be a merchant supplier? **Peter Beck:** Yeah hey Jason. To be honest both. And you can see that being consistent across all of our components businesses - solar panels, reaction wheels. We build good merchant businesses, profitable merchant businesses and we're happy to supply to everybody in the world but also when it comes to building our own thing, we need a reliable scale supply of components for our own aspirations. So the space industry as you well know is full of subscale manufacturing shops in for these space components and it and as we see many of our customers struggle to build volume and build quickly because of that. So we're really trying to solve two problems here is provide, be that merchant supplier at scale for the industry. And then as you point out when it comes time for us to build our own stuff then we already have that capability at scale and we're just methodically going through every element of the satellite that we're going to need now and in the future and when opportunities present themselves we take advantage of that. #### SDA Transport Layer [0:56:52] **Jason Gursky:** Okay. Yeah fair enough. Thank you. Another one for you Peter. I'm just kind of curious on transport. Maybe you could step back and provide some context for us all and what you think the unique features of the SDA transport layer envisioned by your customer and the way that you understand it. What's unique about it relative to what the customer there might be able to go and buy from the commercial market today? So you've got commercial communications providers out there today. Maybe just talk you provide some context on why they need to continue on and go do SDA tranche, you know additional tranches on the transport layer versus just going and buying commercial. **Peter Beck:** Yeah. Yeah. Good question. So you have to think about what SDA is trying to do is a holistic thing. So as you point out it's broken up into transport layers and track layers and custody layers and a whole bunch of different layers. But when you stand back and you go okay what is trying to be achieved here and what elements are critical and what elements are not. So you have to think about it not just as a particular satellite but as a system and that system needs to be interoperable between all of the current existing infrastructure and all of the future infrastructure. So look it's a fair question to say well can transport be done commercially, but the thing is that it has to be completely interoperative with all of the DoD standards and security, all of the spacecraft that are both on orbit now and plan to be on orbit in the future and meet all the requirements of the entire program. And often with a lot of space technology like everything's a trade so you end up having a pretty tight requirement set that you have to solve for. So it's not unreasonable to think that commercial providers may be able to provide a transport or some of the transport layer and I think that's the question that SDA and the Pentagon are trying to answer right now. But the important thing is that it's one layer of many layers. So our focus here although we have a transport layer and we'll continue to bid on transport layers, our real focus is on things like the track layers and the other layers that are out for tender right now. Because we think that those are well certainly those are not been able to provide from commercial assets. And there's a lot more to the SDA program than just that one transport layer. #### Pipeline Balance - Government vs Commercial [0:59:50] **Jason Gursky:** Right. And that's a perfect segue into my final question which was about the pipeline. As you look at your pipeline for constellation builds and I would consider this transport layer that you're working on now to be a constellation build. Do you think you're more likely to see government constellation builds like the next announcement comes along and it's - are we likely to see more government wins from you all or you trying to balance this out and we could very well see a commercial one? Just kind of curious how you're going to market at this point. Thanks. **Peter Beck:** Yeah. Well I mean so not to sound at all arrogant but we have the luxury of picking and choosing the kind of work that we want to go after and the things that we think are strategic for us as we think about our future. And that is a mix of both government and commercial both in kind of either smaller numbers of satellites or small volume constellations that we think are strategic technologies or things that we want to do but also for the also large scale. And I would say that the majority of the effort within the BD team and within the senior management team are really focused on these much much larger constellations partly because that's where we want to go but also we've reached the maturity and the scale now that we really can competitively go after those. As we've talked about on this call we're very very vertically integrated with a lot of the really pain point satellite components at scale and we've demonstrated we can do really really technically difficult missions and we've demonstrated that we can be a prime for national security projects. So I'd say that we've really kind of moved up a flight of stairs on all of that and the opportunities we're looking for are much more larger and needle moving opportunities but both across commercial and government. So I hope that answers your question. #### Constellation Building Priority [1:02:12] **Michael Leshock (KeyBanc Capital Markets):** Hey good afternoon everyone. I want to stick with the satellite constellation topic and you had mentioned the potential for government contracts that could be to build the entire satellite constellation. How do you think about prioritizing that type of work versus building your own constellation first? **Peter Beck:** Yeah. Well I mean that is a good question and something that we talk about a lot. But the most important thing for us is to build a large scalable profitable company. So we're not about to embark on huge R&D projects that would make that a much more far out goal. So the answer to the question is probably not a very good answer is is that we balance that right. We look at those opportunities and I can say that everything we've done to date leads us to that point. And when we have a full conviction and thesis that we can talk about around what kind of constellation that we intend to go after, you really have to have that extremely well baked because at that point you're committing significant resource to go after those kinds of things. So yes I mean like I say the focus is on strengthening the company and we're moving as rapidly as we can into constellations and where we think is important but we're not going to do that at the cost of the security of the business. #### Archimedes Engine Testing [1:04:01] **Michael Leshock:** And then shifting to Archimedes how long are you targeting that engine to burn for for a full launch and maybe what's the duration of the hot fires that you're doing today relative to that full burn expectation? **Peter Beck:** Yeah. So I mean a full duration second stage upper burn profile is on the order of sort of 5 minutes and where we're targeting the testing right now it's really all about all of the startup and shutdown transients and all of those things. Once you reach thermal equilibrium when the engine's just running at thermal equilibrium you're not learning anything because everything is in a steady state. You're just burning propellant at that point. So our focus has not been on big long durations. Our focus has been on all the operating conditions that we need to meet especially on a reusable launch vehicle. When you come in for landing one of the more challenging things are your propellants are hot and they're at different pressures. So that's a far more challenging environment to be able to reignite an engine than a steady state burn. So that's really been our focus. #### Mynaric Acquisition Status [1:05:30] **Eric Rasmussen (Stifel):** Yeah thank you for taking the questions. Maybe just circling back with Mynaric. I remember in the press release it seemed like the deal was contingent on I guess acceptable terms to Rocket Lab. I mean it sounds like in your prepared remarks you seem a lot more comfortable on closing that transaction. So what are there any sort of sticking points remaining to closing this deal at this point? **Peter Beck:** Yeah hey Eric. I'll make a few comments and Adam probably have better ones but you have to go through a whole process in Germany and that process can take some time. And that's probably the longer pole in the tent and it's not really a process that we have much control over. The bankruptcy laws and stuff are different in Germany than the states but I don't know Adam you might have a better comment. **Adam Spice:** No you're exactly right. It all comes down to regulatory and there's a couple regulatory processes that you got to get through but the first one is really to get through the bankruptcy process over there in Germany which there's a court date that's scheduled. And so things are progressing. I think we've always had confidence with our deal that we have with the primary lender here. And that's why we have confidence in leaning forward and announcing the deal. So everything seems to be on track. I mean I think the difficult thing now is trying to predict kind of how that regulatory process will - the timeline for that. But we feel good about where we're at because our - we have a committed plan to as Pete mentioned earlier to invest in that business in Germany. There's great technology, there's great intellectual property. We're going to continue to invest in it. We're going to have what we believe to be a thriving merchant business supplying the broader ecosystem. So yeah we have no reason to be concerned at this point. #### Flatellite Spacecraft Market Interest [1:07:43] **Eric Rasmussen:** Great. And then maybe on the Flatellite... you know since winning... since I guess announcing that spacecraft, what sort of feedback or interest have you received and then maybe any updates on progress thus far, you know maybe timing of you know bringing that spacecraft to market? **Peter Beck:** Yeah I mean we have you know strong interest from commercial and government constellation providers and the you know the Flatellite really is the gold standard for you know high volume, high cadence kind of deployments of constellations. Also useful for ourselves of course, but you know that was that was really a product that was developed and driven by a set of customers. #### NSSL Program Timeline [1:08:45] **Eric Rasmussen:** Great. And then maybe switching gears on the NSSL program. Obviously a big opportunity there. You received a five million task order but at what point any - I think you've gone through a pretty rigorous process just to be on ramp for that but at what point can we expect to see or are you expecting to be able to book backlog for that? Is it contingent on that first flight or what are the milestones that we can potentially look for that maybe get more excited about that program? **Peter Beck:** Yeah totally. So the team now works with us for the next few years on all of the elements of mission assurance and everything that they need for these critical missions. And yes we're eligible for task orders after the first flight. And but between now and then as you can see there's already task orders that occur for various elements of getting mission assurance and mission ready to be able to fly these kinds of payloads. But truly it's after first flight we're eligible for the bid for those task orders. The phase three set of task orders go through to 2029. #### Electron ASP Trajectory [1:10:11] **Eric Rasmussen:** Great. So really getting to the pad is a milestone. And then maybe just finally on Electron. I think Adam you talked about higher ASPs. Q1 obviously was lower. But you expect to see an improved cadence. Would you expect though the year to end at a much higher rate or just slowly pick up from here in terms of an ASP? And obviously there's some lumpiness that you've talked about with some of these volume deals. **Adam Spice:** Yeah right now the backlog would basically imply a step up in both cadence and ASP progressively as we move through the year. So I would expect a high watermark on ASP would be in the Q4 period. So we'll see a progression. It's better in Q2 than it was in Q1. It'll be better again in Q3 and be we'll kind of hit a high water mark in Q4. And I expect that to be both the case for both the ASP and for cadence. And that's really what kind of gets us to that target margin that we talked about. I mean just to be clear when we've talked over the past several years like well when we get to a certain point where we're approaching a couple launches per month or six per quarter that's kind of our goal to get to our target margins in the 40s. And I think everything that we're seeing right now is consistently kind of playing getting us towards that. I think we're pretty pleased with how things have progressed. It's pretty much almost exactly to plan. **Eric Rasmussen:** Great, and that's still 20 plus launches for the year? **Adam Spice**: Correct #### International Space Budgets [1:11:59] **André Shephard (Cantor Fitzgerald):** Hey everyone. Good afternoon. This is André Shephard. Sorry about that. Hey Peter. Hey Adam. Congratulations on the quarter and all of the accomplishments. I think most of our questions have been asked by now. Wanted to maybe get your thoughts - with the international space budgets growing how do you expect this can benefit Rocket Lab? Where do you see the most demand from international coming across launch, satellites and components? Thank you. **Peter Beck:** Yeah hey André. So primarily Europe and Electron has done incredibly well in Japan. So the Japanese market is like the second biggest market for Electron. But as we think about larger opportunities and programs, I think it really sits with allies in Europe. #### Revenue Mix Evolution [1:13:03] **André Shephard:** Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And maybe just as a quick follow-up and again a lot of our questions have been asked but and I realize we I think we touched on this last quarter as well but as we're getting closer and closer to Neutron do you have a maybe a better sense now how you foresee your revenue mix shifting? As I look at the backlog there seems to have been an increase in launch systems over space systems from the last reported backlog. As we're getting closer to Neutron how quickly do you foresee that shifting towards launches over space systems or how long would that transition take I guess in your opinion? Thank you. **Adam Spice:** Yeah I'll take a pass at that Pete. I mean if you look at our back - we're dealing with such large opportunities right now that it's going to be very volatile. I don't think you're going to be able to predict a smooth line or extrapolate a smooth line. One large constellation win will skew everything much more quickly and dramatically back to a balance of maybe more than two-thirds of our revenue from space systems. But you'll also see if as we've now been on-ramped to some of these programs like NSSL every Neutron launch that we book, if you look at our target price for Neutron in the $50 to $55 million ASP range, that's going to move the needle as well. And if you can get some bulk buys going on that could also skew things so that we could be more than 50% of our backlog could be launch at some period of time. So it really depends. It's so hard to predict. And the good thing is we've got multiple irons in the fire. And both launch and space systems have almost equal opportunity to kind of really move the needle. I think because right now space systems has become a dominant piece of the revenue mix because of the size of those programs we've been chasing and the breadth of that business versus today having Electron which is a phenomenal product getting to our target margins that's really gone well. But at $8 million, $8.5 million, $9 million doesn't - it takes a lot more to kind of skew things in launch's favor. Now Neutron resets that table. So I think it's hard to call. It's going to be very volatile. But the good thing is we see that trying to see which one's going to grow faster and move the needle the most is a great problem to have because they both have strong tailwinds to them. #### NSSL Lane 2 Requirements [1:15:42] **Alex Preston (Bank of America):** Hey guys this is Alex Preston on for Ron. Just one quick one for me to close us out. I'm thinking about the NSSL on-ramp for Neutron. I'm curious if you think - how you're thinking about potentially transitioning to lane 2 awards in the future, the more demanding launches. Is it a matter of just demonstrating flight heritage over a number of missions or do you see incremental capabilities you'll need Neutron to demonstrate? **Peter Beck:** Yeah thanks for the question Alex. I wish it was that easy. So the other lane requires you to have a launch site at both Vandenberg and at the Cape. It's very explicit about that. And be able to meet all of the mission requirements for all of the space launch meaning that you have to have a vehicle that can lift over 30 tons. So the cost of admission to get into that lane is extremely high. Hence the reasons why historically all of those programs have been quite heavily subsidized in R&D contracts and whatnot and sustaining contracts because you have to hold and maintain a tremendous amount of infrastructure, two pads and a heavy lift vehicle. So unless the rules change, I don't think we'll graduate up into there. But to be honest with you that this is one of the reasons why NSSL and Space Force created this extra lane is they saw that there's a huge lost opportunity with some medium launch vehicles in development and wanting to make sure they take advantage of those. And it'll be really interesting to see in time how many of those missions fall from the various lanes drop down into the lower lanes that are that are much faster and much more affordable to deliver. ### Closing Remarks [1:17:43] **Peter Beck:** Cheers. Thanks very much everybody. And before we close out for today here are some of the upcoming events and conferences that the team will be attending. We look forward to sharing more exciting news and updates with you there. Otherwise thank you very much for joining us. That wraps up today's call and we look forward to speaking with you about the exciting project progress we're making at Rocket Lab again soon. Thanks. Bye. **Operator:** Thank you so much for joining us today. This does conclude our conference call. You are now free to disconnect. Thank you.