U.S. Space Force Orders Up to 18 Rocket Lab Suborbital Launches to Support Missile Defense Testing.

The U.S. Space Force has awarded Rocket Lab a $266 million contract to conduct a campaign of suborbital launches that will replicate ballistic missile, hypersonic glide vehicle, and reentry vehicle flight profiles for missile defense testing. The campaign strengthens U.S. efforts to validate the full missile defense engagement chain against increasingly advanced threats, supporting next-generation homeland and regional defense capabilities.

The contract, Rocket Lab's largest launch award to date, includes 12 guaranteed suborbital missions with options for six additional flights through 2028. Most launches will originate from a new Rocket Lab launch complex at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska, with the first mission expected no earlier than late 2026.Rather than focusing solely on launch services, the campaign is designed to generate realistic target trajectories representing ballistic missiles, hypersonic glide vehicles, and reentry vehicles. Those representative threats will allow U.S. missile defense operators to exercise the complete kill chain, from early warning and sensor tracking through fire control, interceptor launch, and terminal engagement, under operationally relevant conditions.

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The Rocket Systems Launch Program provides the U.S. Department of Defense with orbital and suborbital launch services for experimental payloads, weapon testing, and selected operational missions. (Picture source: RocketLab)

A suborbital launcher can carry a target vehicle, an experimental payload, or several instruments and place them on a trajectory tailored to the system under evaluation. Radars and infrared sensors must then detect the target, calculate its flight path, and distinguish it from debris or decoys. The resulting data can be transmitted to command-and-control systems to generate a firing solution and, during full-scale trials, support an interceptor engagement.

According to a Rocket Lab statement published on July 27, 2026, the $266 million contract was awarded by Space Systems Command under the Rocket Systems Launch Program. It covers 12 suborbital launches, with options for six additional missions. The first flight is scheduled no earlier than the end of 2026, and most launches are expected to take place from a new Rocket Lab location at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska in Kodiak.

The Rocket Systems Launch Program provides the U.S. Department of Defense with orbital and suborbital launch services for experimental payloads, weapon testing, and selected operational missions. Under this arrangement, the U.S. Space Force serves as the contracting authority and launch-service provider. The resulting test conditions and data may also support the Missile Defense Agency, Pentagon laboratories, and other branches of the U.S. armed forces.

Rocket Lab has not identified the vehicle that will conduct the missions covered by the contract. The company operates the Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, known as HASTE, a suborbital version of the Electron rocket designed for hypersonic and missile defense testing. HASTE can carry payloads of up to 700 kg and release them at velocities ranging from 3 km/s to more than 7.5 km/s at altitudes above 80 km. Its third stage can tailor the trajectory, attitude, and separation conditions to individual test requirements.

These characteristics allow HASTE to carry ballistic payloads, hypersonic glide vehicles, scramjet-powered vehicles, and reentry technologies. During a November 2025 mission for the Missile Defense Agency and the Defense Innovation Unit, the rocket carried a primary payload developed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, along with several secondary experiments related to missile defense technologies.

The 12 to 18 launches assigned to Rocket Lab could be used to place target vehicles on trajectories reproducing the speeds, altitudes, and maneuvering profiles associated with ballistic and hypersonic missiles developed by China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. These profiles could test successive elements of the U.S. missile defense architecture, from space-based sensors and ground radars to interception systems. A layered architecture is required because no single system can cover every altitude and phase of flight. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense can engage ballistic targets at higher altitudes during the terminal phase, while Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement protects forces and infrastructure at lower altitudes. For the U.S. Army, the Rocket Lab missions could provide test conditions for assessing the integration of AN/TPY-2 and Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor radars, the Integrated Battle Command System, and THAAD and Patriot interceptors against representative threats.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience studying conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests lie in Security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.