Rocket Lab rises 3.6% on NASA plan for bulk rocket buys

Rocket Lab shares climbed 3.59% to trade at $75.64 on Tuesday following reports that NASA is preparing a bulk purchase of rocket launches. The space agency aims to secure launch capacity for its $30 billion push to establish a permanent base on the moon.

Carlos García-Galán, NASA's moon base program manager, told Bloomberg the agency will probably announce the first set of these bulk buys soon. The agency may order four or five different rockets in a single batch to pair with commercial lunar landers, while offering any excess capacity to other government agencies or third parties.

The demand comes amid an industry-wide rocket shortage and as SpaceX begins turning away satellite operators seeking dedicated Falcon 9 launches after 2028. Rocket Lab's upcoming Neutron rocket is among the new vehicles expected to begin flights in the coming months and years, alongside competitors such as Relativity Space's Terran R, Firefly Aerospace's Eclipse and Stoke Space's Nova.

The company produces the Electron and Neutron launch vehicles as well as the Photon satellite platform, serving civil, defense and commercial customers across its Launch Services and Space Systems segments. While Rocket Lab operates in Japan and other global markets, the United States remains its primary source of revenue.