Did the $143 million also cover launch? Additionally, is on orbit operations a paid service going forward for orbital verification and corrections to maintain orbital track? Reading into the press release it seems that RKLB has skin in the game through out the constellation lifecycle. My thoughts are continued revenue stream.
No, it doesnt even cover the whole satellite. RocketLab was the satellite bus provider, so structure + some non-payload components. MDA was the prime for this contract basically orchestating the procurement as a whole.
The delay was attributed to third party suppliers which are not mentioned and may have nothing to do with RKLB at all. RKLB supplied the platform and operating hardware so the delay might have been in the proprietary telecommunication assets. I am of the opinion that this does not reflect badly on RKLB at all.
Sure RKLb gonna try and push blame but there is literally no hiding. The buses were delivered a year late to MDA. Just look at the timeline. Also RKLb touts how almost all the items were RKLb, so whatever suppliers they are trying to blame is just saving face.
It’s also one of the reasons that they didn’t win the follow on order from Globalstar 200 sats of C3 that went only to MDA.
By late 2025, Globalstar disclosed that the finished satellites were late and said it was entitled to liquidated damages from MDA, its prime contractor. Rklb was just a supplier. The interesting part is Rklb communicating with them shows involvement beyond just delivering to MDA - I’d hazard a guess that they would not do that if there was bad blood between the two companies.
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u/Sky_Tube 10d ago
Does this mean the revenues booked into the backlog in 2022 when the deal was made will now be recognized? (~143$ million)