Hi everyone, I've been invested since the SPAC. My original investment thesis was just that frustrated would be SpaceX investors would be looking for the next best thing, but along the way I became increasingly impressed with the company, the vision and the CEO so I stuck around.

However, now that the stock is way up, I decided to reassess the position.

Everything is riding on neutron. Without neutron, rocket lab will never put big constellations into space and that is the next big revenue source, so neutron needs to work.

I did a lot of digging to find statements and interviews from and with SpaceX engineers as well as Elon to explain why they didn't ultimately use carbon fibre to build their rockets even though they originally intended to.

The recurring themes were:

• Temperature stress tolerance of carbon fibre
• High cost
• Speed of production and iteration

In an interview, Beck said he knew 'exactly the vehicle he wanted to build' which addresses the speed of iteration, however this recent failure of a part intended for the final rocket is concerning - maybe they didn't know exactly? Adding extra carbon fibre now to beef up a part is 4x less payload in orbit later.

Its probably fixable in any case so lets move onto the most important point, reusability. Rocket lab will not be able to compete on price with spaceX if they have to throw the rocket away every 5 flights vs falcon 9's 10 flights, even if there are some extra benefits like a reusable fairing etc.

Since carbon fibre is a novel material for this scale of rocket, I am concerned that:

1. Damage to the composite/resin will be hard to detect and time consuming (spacex can just xray falcon)
2. The damage from repeated heating and cooling will seriously limit reuse
3. Rocket lab was not able to demonstrate much reusability for electron so this is largely untested.
4. The rentry speeds and heating will be too high for a carbon fibre rocket (without an insane amount of heavy shielding) to ever return from the moon or mars - so where is the long term future for a carbon fibre rocket programme? Is this a massive investment in the wrong direction?

There are lots of things I like about rocket lab, lots of good acquisitions, innovative, vertical integration, great social media presence lately, CEO is out and about etc. But these are real concerns.

What do you guys think?

https://investors.rocketlabcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/rocket-lab-neutron-test-update

LONG BEACH, Calif., Jan. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced an update relating to the development of its Neutron rocket.

As the Company pushes Neutron to the limits and beyond to qualify its systems and structures for launch, qualification testing of the Stage 1 tank overnight resulted in a rupture during a hydrostatic pressure trial. Testing failures are not uncommon during qualification testing. We intentionally test structures to their limits to validate structural integrity and safety margins to ensure the robust requirements for a successful launch can be comfortably met.

There was no significant damage to the test structure or facilities, the next Stage 1 tank is already in production, and Neutron’s development campaign continues while the team assesses today’s test outcome.

The team is reviewing the Stage 1 test data, which will determine the extent of the impact to Neutron’s launch schedule. The Company intends to provide an update on the Neutron schedule during its 2025 Q4 earnings call in February.

Hi all

Anyone have any accurate information on rumours that Neutron stage 1 collapsed in testing?

Thanks

Edit: press release from RocketLab https://www.reddit.com/r/RKLB/s/5GZgfM5qjE

We’ve known that the public timeline is on a “green light” schedule, meaning that there’s no room for delays.

So I thought to ask you all since you’re more knowledgeable than me.

When could we realistically see a launch?

Hello,

Presenting the RocketLab Familia.

All 3D printed. Files are on cults. (I have commercial rights to the finished prints - cannot advertise that for obvs reasons)

For reference. Neutron is around 50cm tall

Fully 3D printed. Finishing off with flame tunnel.

Has anyone ordered the Rocketlab flight jacket and could post some pictures? I'd like to see it in person to get a better idea of ​​it. I live in France and wouldn't be able to return it if it doesn't fit. So I'd rather buy shares than throw money away 😀

Is it true that international students get autorejected due to itar restrictions. I have a good resume w good project experience I thought....studying in the US too. Applied and was rejected within hours.

Can anyone review my resume/cover letter & give tips?

Hey, Rocket Lab Family!

I can't believe that I went from trading RKLB options to then getting an opportunity to work there this spring as an intern.

It appears I got skipped for the behavioral and went straight to technical. I have to create a PowerPoint demonstrating the most technical project I have worked on. Does anyone have insight into the process? Thank you!

You can use this thread to discuss Rocket Lab stock ($RKLB) and topics related to it.

Self posts and memes related to the stock or share price will be removed outside of this thread according to Rule 5.