Key facts
- The Office of Strategic Capital, established in 2022, made both $150 million conditional loan commitments.
- SpaceX has stopped taking commercial Falcon 9 orders after 2028 as it shifts focus to Starship.
- Space Systems Command forecasts up to 249 medium-to-heavy-lift launches through the early 2030s.
- Rocket Lab said it has a backlog of 117 launches on contract across Neutron and Electron.
- OSC said both conditional loans are subject to financial, legal, technical and other requirements.
- ULA's Vulcan rocket has been grounded twice in two years by solid rocket booster problems.
The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital announced a $150 million conditional loan commitment to Rocket Lab on November 10, 2026, the second such commitment to a SpaceX competitor in the launch business in two weeks. On October 26 the office announced a matching $150 million conditional loan commitment to Stoke Space. Stoke Space and Rocket Lab are the first two launch companies to receive support from the Office of Strategic Capital, an organization established in 2022 to provide capital to companies developing national security technologies.
SpaceX, the Pentagon's leading launch provider, has stopped taking commercial orders for Falcon 9 launches after 2028 as it shifts focus to its next-generation Starship rocket. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches for government customers, including NASA and the US Space Force, are expected to continue longer. The Space Force's contract allows Falcon orders through 2029, with launches extending through 2033.
Stoke Space's loan is tailored to support a second launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, which would support flights of the Nova Block 2 rocket, an upgraded version of its fully reusable Nova Pathfinder, 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 Rocket Lab loan will support 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. OSC said the loan would support faster vehicle delivery and processing, expand Rocket Lab's fleet of maritime vessels for Neutron recovery and transport, enable manufacturing upgrades for composite structures and engines, and support infrastructure to reduce turnaround time between launches. Both conditional loans are subject to various financial, legal, technical, investment, due diligence and other requirements, OSC said.