Rocket Lab is signaling to investors, yet again, that it\u2019s more than \u201cjust\u201d a rocket company.<\/p>\n
Rocket Lab\u2019s second-quarter results, which were posted Thursday, show revenues continue to be driven by its space systems business rather than launch. The results also highlighted the company\u2019s acquisition strategy and how its purchase of a new optical payloads company will make it more competitive for lucrative government contracts.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s space systems brought in $97.9 million of the $144.5 million in total revenues for the second quarter. Rocket Labs\u2019 total revenue, its highest quarterly revenue in the company\u2019s history, jumped 36% from a year ago. The company\u2019s net loss widened to $66.4 million.<\/p>\n
Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck highlighted the \u201cbusy quarter of M&A activity\u201d as the company gets close to closing its deal to buy Geost<\/a>, a company that builds optical payloads. Through that acquisition, which will close at $275 million in cash and equity, Rocket Lab is opening a new business unit called Optical Systems to scale electro-optical and infrared sensor manufacturing.<\/p>\n Those sensors are used in missile warning, tracking, and space domain awareness. The acquisition is also one part of a larger play from Rocket Lab \u2014 spelled out quite explicitly in the company\u2019s earnings presentation \u2014 to bid for multibillion-dollar DOD initiatives like Golden Dome.<\/a><\/p>\n Rocket Lab has already won some major defense contracts, including a $515 million, 18-satellite build contract to support the Space Development Agency\u2019s constellation of missile-tracking satellites. The company has moved into production on those satellites, following confirmation that they meet the DOD\u2019s mission requirements, Rocket Lab said.<\/p>\n