Rocket Lab Awarded NASA Design Contract For Mission To Mars: What Investors Should Know

A leading space rocket launch company has announced a design contract with NASA for a mission to Mars that boosts the company’s pipeline. 

What Happened: Rocket Lab, which is merging with Vector Acquisition Corporation VACQ, announced a design contract with NASA for the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers mission.

The mission to Mars will seek to study the makeup of the planet’s magnetosphere, according to CNBC.

“Traditionally how interplanetary missions would be done, you’re talking about large decadal missions – generally with a B (for billions) in front of it,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told CNBC.

Reviews will be done between NASA and Rocket Lab to determine if the design contract will lead to a deal for Rocket Lab to build a pair of spacecraft. An announcement is expected by the end of July.

Related Link: Rocket Lab Is Ready To Launch SPAC And Satellite: What Investors Should Know About SpaceX Competitor 

Why It’s Important: Interplanetary mission costs have decreased thanks to the efforts of companies like Rocket Lab.

Rocket Lab was awarded a deal by NASA for a mission to orbit the Moon with a launch date coming soon, according to Beck.

A private mission to use a Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft to go to Venus is also part of Rocket Lab’s backlog of deals.

“The Capstone mission to the Moon is what has really enabled a lot of this in the beginning ... and is very similar design to the Venus mission and we’ve leveraged that further with the Mars Escapade missions,” Beck said.

Rocket Lab is seeking to be a “one stop shop” for smaller interplanetary missions, he said. 

Rocket Lab is working on having its Neutron rocket in time to land additional NASA deals later this year.

The company is one of only two U.S. commercial companies delivering regular access to orbit, with SpaceX being the other. At the time of its SPAC merger announcement, the company had deployed 97 satellites across 16 missions and was the second most frequently used U.S. orbital rocket company.

VACQ Price Action: Shares of Vector Acquisition Corporation were up 0.88% at $10.31 at last check.