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Air Force

Rocket Lab To Conduct Return-To-Earth Cargo Mission For Air Force With Neutron Rocket

By Cal Biesecker

Thursday, May 8th, 2025

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Rocket Lab To Conduct Return-To-Earth Cargo Mission For Air Force With Neutron Rocket

Artist rendering of Rocket Lab's Neutron rocket deploying a payload in space. Image: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab USA [RKLB] will conduct a return-to-Earth cargo mission as early as next year using its Neutron launch vehicle, the company said on Thursday. The medium-lift rocket will be used as part of an experimentation effort by the Air Force Research Laboratory to create a rocket-based point-to-point logistics capability to rapidly transport items globally using commercial launch providers. Rocket Lab last November announced its first launch deal for Neutron to deploy satellites for a commercial customer (Defense Daily, Nov.…

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