PAVE Space is building a fleet of orbital transfer vehicles designed to complete the journey from launch orbit to working orbit in under 24 hours, addressing the inefficiencies in satellite deployment.
Redwire focuses on space infrastructure and autonomous systems. The company completed its Edge Autonomy acquisition and reported 50.7% year-over-year revenue growth. Management maintained full-year guidance of $320 to $340 million, and the book-to-bill ratio of 1.25 suggests demand is holding. But the business is bleeding cash with a net loss of $41.2 million in Q3, nearly double the $21 million loss from the prior year. Gross margin sits at just 16.3%, leaving almost no room for error.
This will be Rocket Lab's fourth hypersonic test mission for the military in under six months, deploying the DART AE hypersonic demonstrator drone from Australia's Hypersonix Launch Systems. The quick cadence of these flights shows how Rocket Lab is helping accelerate the U.S. military's hypersonic capabilities, while quickly establishing its role as the defense industry's go-to launch partner for next-generation technology.
SpaceX is expected to confidentially file its IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 'in coming days.' This means the company's confidential IPO filing is likely to happen sometime between today and next week.
We ended the year with a record $1.85 billion in backlog, representing 73% year-on-year growth, a figure we look forward to building upon in 2026. That backlog includes an $816 million SDA contract to build 18 satellites for the Tracking Layer Tranche 3 program, the largest single contract in company history, plus selection for the Missile Defense Agency SHIELD program, with potential contracts up to $151 billion.
As I write this week's edition, NASA's Space Launch System rocket is undergoing a second countdown rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The outcome of the test will determine whether NASA has a shot at launching the Artemis II mission around the Moon next month, or if the launch will be delayed until April or later. The finicky fueling line for the rocket's core stage is the center of attention after a hydrogen leak cut short a practice countdown earlier this month.