Rocket Lab is no longer content with just building rockets and delivering payloads to orbit. The company has agreed to acquire Iridium Communications in a deal valued at roughly $8 billion, a move that transforms it into a full-fledged satellite communications operator. The transaction, expected to close by mid-2027, gives Rocket Lab a steady, high-margin revenue stream — a stark contrast to the lumpy cash flows that come from selling individual launches.
Iridium shareholders will receive $54 per share, split evenly between cash and Rocket Lab equity. To fund the cash portion, Rocket Lab has secured a $3.6 billion bridge loan from Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo with a maturity of just under a year. The acquisition brings in a profitable satellite network that serves more than 2.5 million active subscribers across governments, militaries and commercial aviation. Iridium generated roughly $871 million in revenue in 2025 and an operating profit of $495 million, translating to a 57% operating margin.
The market welcomed the strategic shift. Rocket Lab shares climbed 7.55% on the day of the announcement to $90.92, snapping a recent downtrend that had left the stock down about 36% over the past month. The rally pushed the price back above its 100-day moving average, though the 50-day line near $106 remains out of reach for now.
Investors have also had a steady stream of operational milestones to digest. On June 27, Rocket Lab completed its 91st Electron launch from New Zealand, delivering a satellite for Japanese Earth-observation firm Synspective into a 552-kilometer orbit. It was the tenth dedicated mission for that customer, and all ten have been successful. Synspective has another 17 launches under contract, with the next slated for early in the third quarter.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Rocket Lab USA?
Just days earlier, on June 22, Rocket Lab executed a mission for the U.S. Space Force that set a record for tactical responsive space: the company received the official launch order and had the rocket airborne 16 hours and 42 minutes later, beating the previous best by more than ten hours. Rocket Lab handled design, build, launch and orbital operations for the spacecraft.
That same day, Rocket Lab was added to the Nasdaq-100 index, which tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies on the exchange. More than 200 investment products with over $800 billion in assets under management track the index, meaning passive funds now have a structural reason to buy the stock — a demand driver independent of quarterly earnings.
Yet the company still isn’t profitable. Its price-to-earnings ratio remains negative, and the stock recently traded at $84.54 before the acquisition news, up $3.90 on volume of roughly 34 million shares. Market capitalization stands at about $51 billion. Investors are betting on growth, launch cadence and a visible order book — and with the Iridium deal, they now get a recurring revenue engine to match. The next test will be regulatory approval and a shareholder vote, but Rocket Lab has already teed up its next proof points: 17 more Synspective launches, a growing defense business and a freshly expanded balance sheet.
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