Rocket Lab dives as SpaceX receives FAA green light for additional Florida launches
Retail favorite Rocket Lab tumbled Wednesday, despite a dearth of direct news on the private space company that has positioned itself as a rival to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
There was a bit of SpaceX news, however, with the FAA giving the green light Wednesday for SpaceX to more than double the number of Falcon-9 rockets it launches from Florida.
It’s tough to attribute all of Rocket Lab’s sell-off to a relatively mundane bureaucratic update. (Some of the sell-off might simply be that momentum-driven retail favorites like Rocket Lab are taking another blow in a string of recent thwackings.)
On the other hand, the Falcon-9 will eventually be the chief competitor to Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket currently being developed. So, the FAA approvals do allow SpaceX to extend its headstart a bit.
Though, there’s another potential way to read the FAA news...
Cynics like us think some of Rocket Lab’s recent outperformance — up 72% in 2025 — might be linked to traders betting the rift between President Trump and Elon Musk might cause the federal government to make life difficult for Musk and potentially benefit rivals like SpaceX.
If so, the additional flights approved by the FAA on Wednesday somewhat undercut that reasoning.
At any rate, Rocket Lab can afford to give up a few percentage points; it’s up more than 600% over the last year.
There was a bit of SpaceX news, however, with the FAA giving the green light Wednesday for SpaceX to more than double the number of Falcon-9 rockets it launches from Florida.
It’s tough to attribute all of Rocket Lab’s sell-off to a relatively mundane bureaucratic update. (Some of the sell-off might simply be that momentum-driven retail favorites like Rocket Lab are taking another blow in a string of recent thwackings.)
On the other hand, the Falcon-9 will eventually be the chief competitor to Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket currently being developed. So, the FAA approvals do allow SpaceX to extend its headstart a bit.
Though, there’s another potential way to read the FAA news...
Cynics like us think some of Rocket Lab’s recent outperformance — up 72% in 2025 — might be linked to traders betting the rift between President Trump and Elon Musk might cause the federal government to make life difficult for Musk and potentially benefit rivals like SpaceX.
If so, the additional flights approved by the FAA on Wednesday somewhat undercut that reasoning.
At any rate, Rocket Lab can afford to give up a few percentage points; it’s up more than 600% over the last year.
