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In March 2025  (Long Beach, Calif., U.S.) was selected by the U.S. Space Force to compete for the Department of Defense’s (DOD) high-priority national security missions for its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program. The firm-fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract has a 5-year ordering period that will run through to June 2029 with a maximum value of $5.6 billion. 

Rocket Lab’s launch vehicle for the program will be Neutron, its 13-ton reusable carbon fiber composite medium-lift launch vehicle being rapidly developed to meet the demand for high-assurance national security missions, and for single and multi-satellite constellation deployment. Designed to deploy payloads up to 13,000 kilograms, Neutron is being brought to the market at a high development pace.

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Under the program, Rocket Lab can compete for missions including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space Technologies, and United Launch Alliance (ULA).

With Neutron’s first launch scheduled for the second half of 2025, Rocket Lab met the program’s eligibility requirements to be selected to compete for the NSSL program, and upon a successful flight on Neutron, will be eligible to further compete for individual task orders awarded within the NSSL program. Neutron’s debut launch from Launch Complex 3 in Wallops Island, Virginia, will be the first launch vehicle to support the NSSL program from the region.

As one of only five launch providers selected for the DOD’s program, eligibility for NSSL Lane 1 includes stringent requirements that aim to develop a diversified, competitive and reliable domestic launch base to provide launch services for its national security missions. The program plans to award a minimum of 30 missions within its contracting period through to 2029, with the potential for an extension through to 2034. As part of the on-ramp to the NSSL program, Rocket Lab receives a $5 million task order to perform a capabilities assessment that demonstrates the company’s tailored approach to mission assurance for launches awarded through the NSSL program.

“Supporting assured access to space for the nation’s most important missions has always been the goal with our Neutron rocket, and we’re incredibly proud to selected by the U.S. Space Force to demonstrate this commitment for the NSSL,” says Sir Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO. 

The company has achieve 63 Electron launches to date and is one of only two U.S. launch providers to have launched multiple payloads to orbit so far in 2025. 

For related content, read “Rocket Lab awarded HASTE launch contract for U.S. DOD.”