NASA Awards Blue Origin $700 Million Mars Deal as Rocket Lab Slips 2%
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 2
NASA Awards Blue Origin $700 Million Mars Deal as Rocket Lab Slips 2%
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 2
Summary
Rocket Lab shares fell 2% late Tuesday after NASA chose Blue Origin for a firm-fixed-price Mars Telecommunications Network contract worth up to $700 million.
The award covers designing, building, launching and operating a Mars relay orbiter due by Dec. 31, 2028, with the network expected to be operational by 2030.
Rocket Lab had been eligible and pitched an Explorer-based orbiter, but the loss revived investor worries over executive stock sales and the narrowing 2026 launch window for its Neutron rocket.
ARK Investment Management bought 504,799 RKLB shares across three ETFs on Tuesday, stepping in as the stock logged a second straight loss and a ninth decline in 10 sessions.
The setback matters because Rocket Lab had highlighted prior Mars work—including NASA's Escapade spacecraft and a $390,936 communications study—as proof it could handle a fixed-price Mars mission.