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Rocket Lab (RKLB) may be about to inherit some of SpaceX’s (SPCX) customers. SpaceX has stopped selling new rideshare missions on Falcon 9, according to a Wall Street Journal report last week. Some operators also can’t book flights beyond 2028. SpaceX is shifting its focus to Starship, its massive new rocket. With launch demand expected to outpace supply until at least 2030, customers need another way to orbit. Rocket Lab’s reusable Neutron rocket is being positioned as that alternative.
The demand is already showing up in Rocket Lab’s numbers. The company signed more than $437 million in new launch contracts in the second quarter and the weeks after. That pushed its launch backlog above 90 launches, the highest in the company's history. Kepler Communications, a Canadian satellite operator, is a good example of this shift. It flew its latest satellites on a SpaceX rideshare in January, but has now booked an entire Neutron rocket for as early as 2028, the same year Falcon 9 bookings run out. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck called it a sign that Neutron is on track to become the industry’s alternate ride to space for larger payloads.
