Rocket Lab has won another defense-related space contract

Rocket Lab has won an $816 million contract — its largest to date — with the US Space Development Agency, as the company continues to diversify its sourcing beyond the “rocket company” label.

Its subsidiary Rocket Lab USA has been awarded a prime contract from the Space Development Agency (SDA) to design and manufacture 18 satellites, the company said on Friday. The satellites will be equipped with advanced warning, tracking and missile defense sensors for the agency’s Tracking Layer Tranche 3 program.

This contract is separate from an existing $515 million award for satellite delivery for SDA’s Transport Layer-Beta Tranche 2 program. This program aims to provide a satellite communications network in low Earth orbit that sends encrypted, low-latency data to the military.

Together, Rocket Lab has SDA contracts worth more than $1.3 billion.

His rocket lab Expanded on defense It recently said it would make a bid to buy the Department of Defense for billions of dollars Initiatives like Golden Dome.