Rocket Lab Wins $397 Million Space Force Contract to Build Threat-Tracking Flatellites

The U.S. Space Force awarded Rocket Lab $397 million to design, build, and launch a fleet of flat, stackable satellites that track airborne threats in real time — the company's largest defense contract of the year.

The U.S. Space Force has awarded California-based Rocket Lab a $397 million contract to design, manufacture, and launch a fleet of "Flatellites" — flat, stackable satellites built to track airborne threats in real time. Funded under the Space Force's Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program, the award is the company's single largest national defense contract so far this year, Space.com reports.

The flat design is optimized for large orbital constellations, packing more spacecraft onto each launch and equipping them with low-latency, high-bandwidth communications and sensors for tracking adversarial air-based threats. They will fly in stacks aboard Rocket Lab's next-generation Neutron rocket — similar to how Starlink satellites ride a Falcon 9 — with Neutron expected to debut near the end of this year or in early 2027.

The deal caps a breakout year for Rocket Lab's defense business. Since the start of 2026 the company has announced four U.S. government contracts worth a combined $943 million, including $190 million for hypersonic test launches and $266 million for up to 18 missile-defense missions from Alaska. CEO Peter Beck said the satellites will "enhance the Joint Force's ability to operate in contested airspace," according to the company's announcement.

The contract lands amid a wider Pentagon push to assemble a "Golden Dome" missile-defense architecture in orbit — a drive that has already seen SpaceX win a $4 billion Space Force award for satellites targeting airborne threats anywhere on Earth.