By Asa Fitch
SpaceX's IPO this month will give investors their first big opportunity to place bets on the growing space economy.
But SpaceX's listing will also draw attention to a broader set of listed space-related companies. None of them has Elon Musk's name recognition. But a few have intriguing businesses and have more room to grow.
Case in point: Rocket Lab. The Nasdaq-listed company is one of only a handful in the world that can launch rockets into orbit, albeit at a smaller scale than SpaceX. It and peers have an automatic leg up on other space players simply because it isn't easy getting things into orbit. Many publicly traded companies, from Virgin Orbital to Astra, have stumbled trying to do so. Some larger private ones -- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin most recently -- have also had notable struggles.
Founded two decades ago in New Zealand but now based in California, Rocket Lab has launched 88 small-payload rockets mostly into low-Earth orbit. Only four have failed, the last of which was in 2023.
But Rocket Lab isn't content being a little brother to SpaceX and its gigantic rockets, which ferry Starlink satellites and other cargo to space every few days. The company, led by self-trained engineer Peter Beck, is planning to launch its first so-called medium-lift rocket this year. It is capable of carrying payloads up to 13 metric tons.
That is a big deal. It should help the company better compete with SpaceX on cost. Larger rockets like SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, which can put almost 64 metric tons into low-Earth-orbit, can keep the cost per kilogram of cargo at about $1,500. Rocket Lab's Neutron rocket should offer about $4,000 per kilogram. That isn't the cheapest, but puts it about on par with some versions of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
And the demand is there even at higher prices.
Rocket Lab is using its track record with smaller rockets to court defense customers who don't want to ride-share with other SpaceX customers. The rockets' small size means Rocket Lab can also be more nimble with launch schedules. This appeals to militaries that sometimes need to get spy satellites into space quickly.
Rocket Lab has made plenty of inroads there already. It won a $190 million Pentagon contract in March to help test hypersonic flight conditions using its smaller Electron rockets. And it is working with defense contractor RTX on the U.S.'s Golden Dome, a space-based missile-defense shield.
The company has more than 70 launches in its backlog, Beck said on a call with analysts after its quarterly earnings report last month. And revenue is growing, rising 38% to more than $600 million last year.
The revenue backlog of $2.2 billion at the end of the first quarter also seems destined to expand, given that the militarization of space is only intensifying and ventures like AI data centers in space are starting to gain traction.
Indeed, Rocket Lab could make bigger rockets if space-based artificial intelligence takes hold and demand shifts toward moving ever larger amounts of stuff into orbit, finance chief Adam Spice said. That would make it an even closer competitor to SpaceX.
The company could even build and operate space data centers as part of a vertical-integration strategy it is pursuing. "We would much rather be building out our own data centers in orbit and leasing that capacity out to customers rather than just building something for them," Spice said.
Rocket Lab's shares aren't exactly cheap. They are up more than 50% this year, leaving the company roughly on par with SpaceX on a price-to-sales basis at SpaceX's targeted valuation. But it's a lot easier for Rocket Lab to grow into its lofty expectations from a smaller base than it would be for SpaceX to grow fast enough to justify its valuation.
The case for many other listed space companies isn't as clear-cut.
A few of them, like lunar-exploration specialist Intuitive Machines, are serving a market that may or may not boom. Others, like communications-satellite operators including AST Spacemobile, Viasat and Iridium, have more tangible growth prospects but also are in an increasingly crowded field.
Their futures are tied to rising demand for services including mobile-phone connections from space and, in Iridium's case, using satellites to connect with internet-of-things devices on Earth. Satellite operators brought in $24 billion of revenue last year, New Street Research estimates. That figure is certain to rise in the years ahead, even if it doesn't reach the $1.6 trillion potential market that SpaceX included in its recent IPO filing.
But there are also questions about smaller players' ability to capture a huge piece of the revenue pie. SpaceX is already dominant with its Starlink internet service, which New Street estimates accounted for half of the industry's revenue last year.
And Amazon.com is shaping up to be another well-funded competitor. It is launching satellites and plans to provide internet connections from space through its Amazon Leo subsidiary.
That may not be all bad news for smaller incumbents like AST, Viasat and Iridium. Even if they don't end up building thriving businesses of their own, they own valuable spectrum -- the right to transmit data and voice calls over certain frequencies.
That could make them acquisition targets, providing investors with an out if they can't compete. Amazon agreed in April to acquire satellite operator Globalstar, citing its satellite network and spectrum assets.
SpaceX is synonymous with space for many investors. But it doesn't have the cosmos to itself.
Write to Asa Fitch at asa.fitch@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 05, 2026 05:30 ET (09:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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