Did Rocket Lab Just Take A Dig At Musk's SpaceX? CEO Says Launch Success Isn’t Just ‘Some Rubbish’ About Clearing The Pad

In the past, Musk has refused to categorize launch missions as failures, even if they failed to reach orbit.

Rocket Lab (RKLB) CEO Peter Beck said on Thursday that the success of its upcoming launch vehicle will depend on reaching Earth’s orbit and not just clearing the pad.

When asked by an analyst about what would mark a successful launch of the Neutron rocket, Beck said, “You're not going to hear some rubbish about just clearing the pad as a success.”

The comments from the chief executive of the aerospace firm come after several high-profile incidents involving rival SpaceX’s Starship, the heaviest launch vehicle ever built. In the past, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has refused to categorize launch missions as failures, even if they failed to reach orbit. The company follows the "fail fast, learn faster" approach, prioritizing learning from its mistakes and quickly moving on to the next test.

“The bit that we'll be a little bit more flexible on is obviously the reentry and soft landing of the first vehicle. There's a lot to learn there,” Beck said on Thursday.

He raised the prospect of the Neutron rocket launch being delayed from its current year-end target. “Every single thing needs to go to plan for the schedule to hold,” he said on a call with analysts.

The Neutron is a significantly more powerful launch vehicle compared to its predecessor, the Electron, and is crucial for the company to capture a larger share of the lucrative mega-constellation satellite delivery market.

“We're not going to rush and take stupid risks to … launch Neutron before it's ready,” Beck said.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Rocket Lab was still in the ‘bullish’ territory at the time of writing.

Rocket Lab stock slipped 2.5% in extended trading on Thursday despite topping Wall Street’s estimates for second-quarter revenue.

The company reported quarterly revenue of $144.50 million, which was higher than the $135.41 million expected by analysts, according to Fiscal.ai data. However, its quarterly net loss widened to $0.13 per share, compared to $0.08 per share in the same period.

Beck said that some risks remain related to propulsion and the full integration of the lower section of the Neutron launch vehicle. However, he noted that its launch facility at Wallops Island, Virginia, was mostly complete.

Rocket Lab’s stock has gained nearly 74% this year.

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