Rocket Lab Insiders Sell $5.5M Worth Of Shares As Iridium Deal Advances — CEO Teases Secret Defense Programs

CEO Peter Beck said Rocket Lab has “a lot” of undisclosed national-security programs and builds missions that “just cannot fail.”

• Five Rocket Lab executives sold 78,843 RKLB shares for a combined $5.49 million.
• The executives retained 3.11 million shares, or about 97.5% of their combined pre-sale holdings.
• Iridium filed definitive merger materials ahead of a Sept.24 shareholder vote.

Several Rocket Lab (RKLB) executives have sold a combined $5.49 million worth of shares to cover taxes on vested stock awards, as the company’s Iridium acquisition advanced and CEO Peter Beck hinted at a substantial portfolio of undisclosed national-security programs.

RKLB stock fell 1% on Wednesday and is on track for a third consecutive weekly decline, with shares down 9% so far this week. 

RKLB Insiders Sell Nearly 79,000 Shares

Five executives collectively sold 78,843 RKLB shares on Monday at prices ranging from $69 to $71.17, according to filings submitted on Wednesday. COO Frank Klein led the transactions, selling 45,692 shares for $3.18 million. Rocket Lab USA President Marvin Clevenger sold 15,051 shares for about $1.05 million, while CFO Adam Spice sold 9,677 shares for $674,000.

Senior Vice President and General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 7,754 shares for $540,000, and Chief Accounting Officer Agostino Ricupati sold 669 shares for about $47,000.

The filings called the transactions “sell-to-cover” sales made to satisfy tax-withholding obligations arising from the vesting and settlement of previously awarded restricted stock units, rather than discretionary profit-taking. Four filings said that the transactions occurred under Rule 10b5-1 arrangements. Ricupati’s filing did not check the Rule 10b5-1 box but still explicitly said the sale was tax-related.

The executives retained 2.86 million shares after the transactions. Including 250,000 shares Spice holds indirectly through a trust, they retained 3.11 million shares, which is about 97.5% of their combined pre-sale holdings.

Iridium Deal Heads To Shareholder Vote 

The sales came as Iridium Communications filed its definitive proxy statement and Rocket Lab prospectus, formally sending the proposed merger to Iridium shareholders. Under the deal, each Iridium share will convert into $27 in cash and a variable number of Rocket Lab shares based on Rocket Lab’s 10-day volume-weighted average price shortly before closing.

Iridium holders will receive 0.4 Rocket Lab shares if the specified stock price is $67.50 or lower. Between $67.50 and $112.50, the exchange ratio adjusts to keep the stock component near $27. At $112.50 or higher, the ratio is capped at 0.24 shares.

The transaction initially implied a $6 billion equity value and an $8.1 billion enterprise value for Iridium. Rocket Lab has secured a committed $3.6 billion bridge facility and may replace it with longer-term debt, equity financing or both. Iridium shareholders will vote on the deal on Sept.24. Former Iridium shareholders are estimated to own around 5% of the combined company.

Rocket Lab CEO Reveals Secret Missions 

During a new tour of Rocket Lab’s Long Beach facility as part of a fresh interview, Beck offered a rare glimpse into the company’s undisclosed defense work. When asked whether there were projects visitors were not allowed to see, Beck replied: “Lots.”

When pressed on whether the tour showed only a small portion of Rocket Lab’s operations, Beck said, “I mean, we have a lot of national security programs. So, you know, these are sort of the missions that we can show you.” Beck said much of Rocket Lab’s work involves demanding defense and interplanetary missions where reliability is essential.

“Most of the stuff we do is like super hard, you know, defense-related or interplanetary and stuff like that where you just can’t have stuff fail,” he said. Some spacecraft shown during the tour were designed to operate for 12 years in “nasty, nasty radiation,” Beck said, calling them missions that “just cannot fail.”

How Do Retail Traders Feel About RKLB?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for RKLB flipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘bullish’ levels a month ago amid a 27% decline in 24-hour message volumes.

One user said, “$RKLB SpaceX to build 100 billion dollars spaceport in Louisiana. This company will be lucky to sell them a few nuts and bolts. In the next two years they will have all the business”

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Another user said, “$RKLB this is driving me nuts. Its back down after great earnings and guidance. It'll be profitable shortly. I have rklb in an IRA and eventually it'll be $200.”

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RKLB stock has risen 38% over the past year.

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