- Rocket Lab USA (RKLB, Financial) completes a critical design review for the SDA's Tranche 2 Transport Layer-Beta program.
- The company will deliver 18 spacecraft, contributing to a global communications network.
- The successful milestone enables the program to enter full-scale production.
Rocket Lab USA (RKLB), a leader in launch services and space systems, has successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Transport Layer-Beta (T2TL-Beta) program. This milestone confirms that the spacecraft design, manufacturing processes, and systems architecture fully meet mission requirements, and it enables the progression to full-scale production.
As a prime contractor, Rocket Lab will deliver a constellation of 18 spacecraft for the T2TL-Beta program. This initiative is a foundational element of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, which is a resilient, low-latency communications network designed to provide real-time connectivity for U.S. and allied forces worldwide.
The spacecraft developed for the T2TL-Beta program is based on Rocket Lab's high-performance Lightning platform, specifically tailored to meet the power and data-handling demands of national security low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations. As a vertically integrated provider, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures its spacecraft buses and major subsystems in-house, ensuring strict quality, cost, and schedule control.
Rocket Lab President Brad Clevenger emphasized the company’s role in securing space for joint forces, stating, “With proven platforms and in-house production across key systems, we’re building the backbone of resilient on-orbit capability for the warfighter.”
Rocket Lab, headquartered in Long Beach, California, is an established space company offering reliable launch services, satellite manufacturing, and on-orbit management solutions. Since its first orbital launch in 2018, the Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually.
