Rocket Lab has ‘misrepresented’ Neutron launch readiness, congressional memo says

An inner congressional memo considered by TechCrunch casts robust doubt on Rocket Lab’s declare that its Neutron rocket will likely be prepared for launch in time to satisfy an important contract deadline from the Area Drive.

“In light of public reporting and media pressure, Rocket Lab has escalated their campaign to misrepresent their launch readiness in an effort to gain competitive advantage over incumbents and other new entrants by on-boarding into NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 at the first opportunity in 2024,” the memo, considered by TechCrunch, says. “Public records and information available to staff confirm that Neutron has no credible path to launch by 12/15/2024.”

Rocket Lab declined to remark for this story.

Such memos are used to tell Congressional officers on explicit points and make suggestions on proposed actions. This memo, which was written by Congressional staffers and circulated on Wednesday to different workplaces, together with these within the Senate Armed Companies Committee, states that Rocket Lab has “repeatedly assured” these staffers that the corporate has a reputable path to launch by Dec. 15.

That’s the date by which the Area Drive’s Area Programs Command mentioned launch suppliers have to be able to fly as a way to qualify for launch contracts below a program known as Nationwide Area Safety Launch (NSSL) Section 3. These contracts will reportedly be price a number of billions of {dollars} to cowl launches from 2025 by 2034.

In response to business suggestions, Area Programs Command modified its procurement technique for the following batch of nationwide safety launch contracts to accommodate newer launch suppliers. Below the brand new technique, the contracts are break up into two teams: Lane 1 is for newer rockets, whereas Lane 2 is for established suppliers that may fulfill the complete vary of mission necessities.

Whereas Rocket Lab has by no means publicly confirmed that it has bid below Lane 1, in an earnings name on Tuesday, CEO Peter Beck prompt the corporate was pushing arduous to finish Neutron improvement by the top of this yr as a way to meet that deadline: “We’re tracking that Lane 1 pretty closely and we spent a lot of time with the Space Force to advocate for that Lane 1,” he mentioned. “Hence the reason why we’re pushing so hard to get the vehicle in a launch for this year, because it’s a gating on-ramp to Lane 1.”

As Beck went on to notice, suppliers who don’t meet this yr’s readiness date could have one other alternative to bid on contracts the next yr.

Neutron is Rocket Lab’s medium-lift car and is being added as a complement to its profitable small Electron rocket. Neutron will likely be powered by a brand new engine known as Archimedes, and the corporate is aiming to begin scorching fireplace checks of that engine round March; Beck mentioned the corporate will know extra about how near the timeline they’re “once Archimedes breathes fire” throughout testing.

Uncertainties round Archimedes’ scorching fireplace checks are “the biggest issue” in Rocket Lab’s claims, the memo argues.

Past the precise rocket testing, a lot of the timeline is determined by completions to the launch pad and different infrastructure at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, which is being constructed by a state company, Virginia Business Spaceport Authority. The most recent RFP issued by that company for the launch infrastructure has an anticipated completion date of 11/29/24 — which leaves a scant two weeks till the launch deadline. It’s unclear whether or not any extra RFPs are forthcoming or when the RFP schedule was finalized. VCSPA didn’t reply to TechCrunch’s request for remark by publication time.

On the corporate’s earnings name, analysts additionally requested Beck in regards to the RFP, and he pointed to Rocket Lab’s monitor report of growing launch pads in brief timelines. However the congressional memo argues that the Neutron pad has considerably totally different “scale, propellant type, and architecture” in comparison with the corporate’s current pads. It additionally highlights proprietary timelines shared by different launch suppliers that recommend there may be a lot work left to be included in RFPs by VCSFA.

The memo features a slide from 2023 ready by Area Programs Command that means the company will start supply choice within the second quarter of the fiscal yr and announce the Lane 1 awards in the course of the third quarter, which runs from April to June.