Rocket Lab Becomes Publicly Traded Through
Merger with Vector Acquisition Corporation
March 01, 2021
Rocket Lab and Vector
Acquisition Corporation a special purpose
acquisition company backed by Vector Capital,
announced they have entered into a definitive
merger agreement that will result in Rocket Lab
becoming a publicly traded company. The
transaction is estimated to be completed in Q2
2021 and, at that time, Vector will change its
name to Rocket Lab USA, Inc. and the combined
company will trade under the Nasdaq ticker
symbol RKLB.
Rocket Lab is transforming
the way we use and access space by delivering
end-to-end solutions across the launch and space
systems markets. Since the Company’s first
orbital launch in 2018, its innovative Electron
launch vehicle has become the second most
frequently launched U.S. rocket annually. To
date, Rocket Lab has delivered 97 satellites to
orbit for more than 20 public and private-sector
organizations and technology-leading
constellation operators. Rocket Lab’s customer
base is evenly split across government and
commercial organizations including the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA), as well as commercial satellite
leaders. As the first company to deliver regular
and reliable dedicated launch services for small
satellites, Rocket Lab has also played a leading
role in catalyzing the growth of the commercial
small satellite industry. The satellites
launched by Rocket Lab enable operations in
national security, Earth observation, space
debris mitigation, weather and climate
monitoring, communications and scientific
research.
Rocket Lab has an
established space systems business that develops
satellite and spacecraft solutions for a range
of commercial and government missions, from
low-Earth orbit constellations to
high-complexity deep space and interplanetary
missions. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft family
delivers a satellite-as-a-service solution that
eliminates the typical high cost, time and
complexity customers face when building their
own satellites. With Rocket Lab, customers can
buy a launch, satellite, ground services and
on-orbit management as a turn-key package,
resulting in a disruptive reduction in cost and
time to orbit. Rocket Lab has an operational
Photon in orbit, with additional missions to the
Moon, Mars and Venus planned. In 2021, Rocket
Lab will employ Electron and Photon to launch a
satellite to lunar orbit for NASA to serve as a
precursor for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost
that is part of NASA’s Artemis program to return
humans to the lunar surface.