US Space Force gives Rocket Lab $397 million to build threat-tracking 'Flatellites'
The U.S. Space Force has awarded Rocket Lab $397 million to manufacture a new fleet of "Flatellites" designed to detect and track airborne threats from space.
The US Space Force has awarded Rocket Lab a substantial $397 million contract to develop, produce, and launch a fleet of Flatellites. These Flatellites are designed to bolster the Space Force's capability to monitor airborne threats in real-time, as part of the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck expressed pride in contributing to a resilient space-based sensing layer that will enhance the Joint Force's operations in contested airspace.
This contract represents Rocket Lab's largest national defense deal of the year. Since the beginning of 2026, the company has secured four major U.S. government-funded defense contracts totaling $943 million, including $190 million for 20 HASTE test launches, $90 million for two geostationary satellites, and $266 million for potential missile-defense missions from Alaska.
Rocket Lab recently unveiled GHOST, a deployable shipping container system for responsive national-security missions, and plans to use it for Alaskan launches. The company aims to deploy GHOST globally, with the upcoming Neutron launch vehicle expected to debut by the end of 2026 or early 2027. The Flatellites' flat design allows for more spacecraft per launch and is optimized for orbital constellations, featuring low latency, high bandwidth communication systems and sensors for tracking adversarial air-based threats.
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