Rocket Lab Secures $816M SDA Tranche 3 Contract After SRR Clearance
RKLB•Rocket Lab passed the System Requirements Review for SDA’s Tracking Layer Tranche 3, validating its Lightning satellite platform with Phoenix infrared sensors and StarLite protection. The company’s $816 million award boosts its SDA contract total to over $1.3 billion and underpins its vertically integrated missile defense offerings.
1. System Requirements Review Passed
Rocket Lab’s clearance of the System Requirements Review for the SDA Tracking Layer Tranche 3 confirms its solution meets all operational requirements and establishes the technical baseline for development. This milestone allows the program to proceed into detailed design and manufacturing phases, locking in performance specifications for hypersonic warning and tracking.
2. Lightning Platform and Payload Features
Built on the in-house Lightning satellite platform, the TRKT3 constellation integrates Phoenix infrared sensors for wide field-of-view missile detection and StarLite space protection sensors against directed energy threats. The end-to-end solution includes company-designed solar arrays, avionics, optical terminals, propulsion systems and the InterMission Ground Software for seamless space-to-ground operations.
3. Contract Value and Strategic Impact
The $816 million TRKT3 award raises Rocket Lab’s total SDA awards to over $1.3 billion, complementing the earlier $515 million Transport Layer-Beta Tranche 2 contract. This growing portfolio underscores Rocket Lab’s emergence as a prime contractor for national security space infrastructure and supports its vertically integrated manufacturing and launch capabilities.
