Rocket Lab Schedules 20th Launch of 2025

Rocket Lab stock inched up on Wednesday after the space technology company announced its 20th launch of the year, set for Thursday. Above, Rocket Lab workers unload a spacecraft. (Courtesy Rocket Lab)

Rocket Lab’s capabilities are expanding—at just the right time.

On Wednesday, the space launch and technology company announced its 20th launch of the year: the STP-S30 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command.

The launch window opens early on Thursday, months ahead of schedule.

Moving up launches isn’t easy, so any company that does has an advantage.

Firefly Aerospace , for instance, has built its space launch technology on the concept of rapid deployment.

Rocket Lab’s pushed-up launch—and its 20th of the year— is impressive. The company is arguably SpaceX’s top rival.

SpaceX, headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, accounts for more than half of orbital launches worldwide. Its Falcon 9, which is much larger than a Rocket Lab Electron rocket, has launched more than 160 times in 2025.

Now is the right time to have reliable space launch capabilities.

Militaries are more interested in space these days. Take, for example, President Dona’s Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense shield for the U.S.

And the commercial space industry is flourishing in part because of SpaceX’s Starlink space-based broadband network, which essentially combined low costs to reach space with low-cost satellites to create a profitable, growing data service.

Rocket Lab stock fell 2.8%, closing at $53.96, on a difficult day for the market. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Rocket Lab, which is up about 112% this year, doesn’t always go up on launch news since launches are a normal course of business.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com