AFRL Taps Rocket Lab for Space Cargo Experiment

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s ambitious program to explore using rockets to deliver cargo around the globe took another step forward with an announcement of an experimental mission planned for next year. The U.S. military has tapped the Rocket Lab to conduct the test, the aerospace company said May 8.

The Department of the Air Force made “Rocket Cargo” one of its premier “Vanguards” in 2021—top research programs to receive concentrated funding and focus. The idea is for space launches to deliver material, and possibly personnel, across the globe within hours. 

In a release, Rocket Lab said it would use its new Neutron rocket to fly an AFRL payload to space and then return to Earth “in a demonstration of re-entry capability for future missions.” 

The timeline for the mission is no earlier than 2026, not long after Neutron’s planned first launch in the second half of 2025. 

The announcement is the latest win for Rocket Lab after the Space Force added it to its National Security Space Launch program in March, opening the door for the firm to compete for a share of $5.6 billion in launch contracts. 

“We know reentry and rocket reusability is a critical advancement in space tech that the DOD is highly supportive of, which is why Neutron has been designed from the get-go for reuse and frequency,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said on an earnings call this week. “And the latest contract is a show of confidence from the DOD in our ability to deliver that.” 

Terms of the contract were not disclosed. In its 2025 budget, AFRL projected to spend $54.2 million on the effort, in addition to $4 million from the Space Force. Budget documents noted plans for a “demonstration launch to transport 30 to 100 tons of cargo to an austere site.” 

Rocket Lab is not the first company to work on “Rocket Cargo.” In 2022, AFRL awarded a five-year, $102 million contract to SpaceX to work on the program; many observers see SpaceX’s new Starship rocket as a natural fit for the program. 

Other firms, including Blue Origin and Sierra Space, have also signed agreements to explore the concept without receiving funds. 

Still, the financial and technical feasibility of using rockets essentially for airlift capabilities is still unclear, and Beck noted during Rocket Lab’s earnings call that the “program is really at the very beginning of its development within the U.S. government.”

AFRL and the Space Force aren’t alone in their curiosity surrounding the capability, as the Defense Innovation Unit solicited industry proposals in 2023 for “novel commercial solutions that enable responsive and precise point-to-point delivery of cargo to, from, and through space.”