The loan from Stoke Space is designed to support construction of the company’s second launch pad at the Cape Canaveral space station in Florida. The second launch site would support flights of Stoke Space’s Nova Block 2 rocket, an upgraded version of the company’s fully reusable Nova Pathfinder, which is expected to debut next year.
“By supporting the construction of additional launch infrastructure, this commitment would improve the overall capacity and resiliency of the commercial space industrial base,” said Jordan Sebold, senior managing director of investments at OSC.
The loan to Rocket Lab will support the company’s efforts to increase the flight cadence of its partially reusable Neutron rocket, which Rocket Lab says is also expected to make its first launch next year.
“The proposed loan would enable faster delivery and processing of vehicles and allow Rocket Lab to expand its fleet of maritime vessels with additional equipment for neutron collection and transport,” OSC said in a statement. “It would also modernize manufacturing to increase production of composite structures and engines, and support infrastructure that would reduce the turnaround time between launches once the reusable rocket makes its operational debut.”
Both conditional loans are subject to “various financial, legal, technical, investment, due diligence and other requirements,” the OSC said.
Adam Spice, Rocket Lab’s chief financial officer, said Monday that the Pentagon loan was “on very attractive terms” and “underscores the importance” of the military’s appetite for launch capability.
“We always take it when we can get it,” Spice said during a quarterly earnings conference call. “It gives us additional capital to grow key parts of our business, Neutron in particular… I think it’s a useful indicator, a very positive indicator, that shows where everyone sees the demand constraint and how it can be unlocked, and capital is certainly part of that.”
Rocket Lab also revealed new pricing for the Neutron rocket – an increase from $55 million to $70 million per launch – in response to what the company said was an increase in bookings for the as-yet unproven launch vehicle. Rocket Lab said it now has a backlog of 117 launches under contract, including orders for Neutron missions and the company’s smaller Electron rocket.
“The launch is extremely constrained, and this is exactly the situation we predicted,” said Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab.
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