The US military seems to be getting nervous about the launch supply crunch

Stoke Space’s loan is tailored to support the buildout of the company’s second launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The second launch site would support flights of Stoke Space’s Nova Block 2 rocket, an upgraded version of the company’s fully reusable Nova Pathfinder, which is set to debut sometime next year.

“By supporting the construction of additional launch infrastructure, this commitment would enhance the overall capacity and resilience of the commercial space industrial base,” said Jordan Sebold, senior managing director of investments at OSC.

The loan to Rocket Lab will support the company’s efforts to increase the flight rate of its partially reusable Neutron rocket, which Rocket Lab says is also scheduled to make its first launch next year.

“The proposed loan would support faster vehicle delivery and processing and allow Rocket Lab to expand its fleet of maritime vessels with additional equipment for Neutron recovery and transport,” OSC said in a statement. “It would also enable manufacturing upgrades to increase the production of composite structures and engines, and support infrastructure that would reduce turnaround time between launches once the reusable rocket makes its operational debut.”

Both conditional loans are subject to “various financial, legal, technical, investment, due diligence, and other requirements,” OSC said.

Adam Spice, Rocket Lab’s chief financial officer, said Monday the Pentagon loan is on “very attractive terms” and “underscores the importance” of the military’s appetite for launch capacity.

“We always take it when we can get it,” Spice said in a quarterly earnings call. “It gives us additional capital to scale key parts of our business, Neutron in particular … I think this is a helpful indicator, a very positive indicator, about where everyone sees the demand constraint and how it can be unlocked, and capital is certainly a part of that.”

Rocket Lab also unveiled new pricing for the Neutron rocket—an increase from $55 million to $70 million per launch—in response to what the company said was a surge in bookings for the still-unproven launch vehicle. Rocket Lab said it now has a backlog of 117 launches on contract, including orders for Neutron missions and the company’s smaller Electron rocket.

“Launch is extremely constrained, and that is exactly the situation we predicted,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s founder and CEO.