Debrief: Rocket Lab’s Proliferating Global—And Orbital—Footprint | Aviation Week

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Vivienne Machi
August 13, 2026

Caption: Rocket Lab is extending its reach around the world with a new pad and subsidiary, and a foray into deployable launch systems. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is extending its reach around the world with a new pad and subsidiary, and a foray into deployable launch systems.

Credit: Rocket Lab

In a recent interview on “The Downlink” podcast, Lou Whiteman, a stock analyst at The Motley Fool, described SpaceX’s post-IPO iteration as “a neo-cloud with a telecom business and a side hustle as a defense contractor.” For Rocket Lab, by contrast, defense is now most definitely not a side quest…

Vivienne Machi

Vivienne Machi is the military space editor for Aviation Week based in Los Angeles.

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