Rocket Lab will acquire space robotics company Motiv Space Systems.
The acquisition, announced Thursday evening in conjunction with Rocket Lab’s Q1 earnings, will achieve two goals:
- Add Mars robotic flight heritage to Rocket Lab’s arsenal for future planetary and nat-sec missions;
- Build up Rocket Lab’s vertical integration, by bringing the manufacturing of solar array drive assemblies and motion-control systems in-house.
Motiv is expected to be rebranded as Rocket Lab Robotics when the acquisition closes, which is scheduled for Q2.
Other news: Rocket Lab announced a few other pieces of news during its Q1 earnings, including:
- Teaming up with RTX’s Raytheon on SBI tech for Golden Dome.
- Winning a $30M contract from Anduril Industries for three HASTE hypersonic test launches.
- Receiving a deal of eight dedicated launches from an unnamed customer. The contract includes five launches on Neutron and three on Electron between 2026 and 2029—bringing Rocket Lab’s manifest to 70+ missions.
By the numbers: We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the company’s financial figures. Rocket Lab reported:
- Q1 revenue of $200.3M—a new record, and a 63.5% YoY increase.
- 36 new launch contracts signed in Q1—more than all of 2025.
- A backlog of $2.2B, an increase of 20.2% since Q4 of 2025.
HawkEye 360 Raises $416M in IPO
The VA-based company priced its 16M shares at $26 per share—at the top of the $24-$26 range shared in the company’s S-1 filing on May 1.
South Korea Pushes to Commercialize Quantum Research
The quantum age is upon us, and South Korea is angling for a seat at the table.
Bridenstine Takes Over as Quantum Space CEO
Bridenstine, who was NASA chief between 2018 and 2021, told Payload that the new position allows him to get back into national security and defense—“That’s where my background is, and where my heart is,” he said.
Space Nuclear Execs Cheer the FY27 Budget Proposal
More than just money, NASA is throwing its full weight behind what Administrator Isaacman sees as the agency’s “logical evolution.”
HawkEye 360 raised $416M with its IPO Thursday morning on the NYSE, where it is now trading under the ticker $HAWK.
Deep dive: The VA-based company priced its 16M shares at $26 per share—at the top of the $24-$26 range shared in the company’s S-1 filing on May 1.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the lead book-running managers for the IPO, which valued the RF analysis company at $2.4B.
Keep reading