What is Rocket Lab launching into space and why are people angry about it?
Rocket Lab, founded in 2006 by Sir Peter Beck, is often lauded in New Zealand for catalysing our space industry. Today it still leads the sector, one with a quickly growing revenue – it was $2.68b in 2024. It's not just glowey-eyed nationalism that paints Rocket Lab favourably. Outside of New Zealand, it's seen as an ' innovative, exciting young space tech company,' and in the first quarter of 2025, Rocket Lab recorded $123 million in revenue, 32% up year-on-year.
Rocket Lab is now an American corporation with headquarters in California. It offers launches from Māhia Peninsula and Virginia USA as well as aerospace manufacturing and design. While in 2008 Beck stated, ' if it's involved in the military we don't want anything to do with it,' the company won contracts from at least three US defence agencies in 2009, and seemingly never looked back. In May, Rocket Lab announced a $460 million deal with a US missile tracking tech company, positioning itself as a major contractor to US national security. In the US, Rocket Lab's rockets are the second most launched (after SpaceX). Here in New Zealand, concerns have been raised, and largely ignored by politicians, that Rocket Lab's ability to replace satellites makes the country a military target.
Over the years, groups like Auckland Peace Action and Rocket Lab Monitor have accused Rocket Lab of being part of the militarisation of space and breaching New Zealand's Nuclear Free status. Many of the complaints have centered around its US military contracts. These groups have pointed out that Lockheed Martin, the world's largest weapons manufacturer, has invested in Rocket Lab and that the aerospace intelligence and communications technology that Rocket Lab develops, manufactures and launches could be used in weapon systems and other military operations.
The most recent protests, from Friday, were led by Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA). Beyond the pickets, the group, along with a lawyer, have referred Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck, minister for space and for defence Judith Collins and others to the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Why? Because PSNA believes that Rocket Lab activities may have intentionally contributed to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by Israel.
In a statement provided to The Spinoff, a Rocket Lab spokesperson said the company 'strongly refutes PSNA's false and irresponsible claims' and that it is considering its legal options. They followed with a bullet-pointed summary of New Zealand's legal requirements for launching rockets.
So what does Rocket Lab launch into space from Māhia?
Rocket Lab's website says that its launches, numbering over 200 since 2018, have enabled ' operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications '. In the past the company has said it does not and will not launch weapons as this is against its commitment and New Zealand law.
New Zealand's space activities are regulated by the Outer Space and High-altitude Activities Act 2017. Apart from safety considerations, the act takes into account New Zealand's international obligations and national interests like economic benefits, risks to national security and international relations. Anything launched into space must have a license granted by discretion of the government on a case-by-case basis.
Cabinet has outlined some payloads not to be permitted – payloads that contribute to nuclear weapons programmes or capabilities; payloads with the intended end use of harming, interfering with, or destroying other spacecraft, or space systems; payloads with the intended end use of supporting or enabling specific defence, security or intelligence operations that are contrary to government policy; payloads where the intended end use is likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment.
Rocket Lab's website includes a log of launched missions. Among the clients listed are Hawkeye360, BlackSky, Capella Space, NASA, the US National Reconnaissance Office, the United States Space Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and RideShare. A few are labelled 'confidential commercial customer' or simply 'undisclosed'. Some media coverage states that Hawkeye360, BlackSky, Capella Space, all space-based intelligence firms, have links to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, though unsurprisingly it's hard to track down evidence and details.
In its ICC referral, PSNA has taken issue with Rocket Lab's BlackSky launches in particular, claiming that ' these satellites provide high resolution images to Israel which are very likely used to assist with striking civilians in Gaza '. BlackSky has a network of satellites and sensors that capture high-frequency imagery of Earth. They monitor places and activities for clients, providing high-resolution photographs and AI-enabled analytics every hour under subscription models. This year, Rocket Lab is launching a series of BlackSky's Gen-3 satellites from Māhia Peninsula which are faster, can automatically identify smaller objects and can capture imagery through clouds, smoke or haze.
In 2024, Intelligence Online, an intelligence trade publication, reported that 'BlackSky has a secret $150m contract to supply high temporal frequency images and analysis to the Israeli defence ministry'. This claim has not been reported elsewhere, but BlackSky has recently announced a new, $100+ million contract from a 'strategic international defense sector customer' for its Gen-3 monitoring capabilities.
When Rocket Lab was asked by Newsroom in November last year whether payloads it had launched had been used to inform Israeli air strikes, a spokesperson pointed to other uses of commercial satellite imagery and data like disaster and humanitarian response, emergency management, national security, commerce, and environmental monitoring. A recent mission launched satellites for wildfire detection and monitoring.
What don't we know?
There is much we don't know and may never know about what Rocket Lab and its clients do. Some payloads have been kept confidential, yet all launches from New Zealand have to disclose information to the government in order to get the needed licenses. It's not cut and dry when the government might have obligations to release that information – under the Official Information Act information can be withheld on grounds of commercial or national security.
The Spinoff contacted the office of Judith Collins for comment on Rocket Lab and the ICC referral. We were referred to the office of the prime minister who provided the following comment from a spokesperson:
'People are free to express their views but New Zealand has consistently made clear the situation in Gaza is deeply distressing, and the crisis must end. Our response to the Israel-Hamas conflict has been consistently grounded in the importance of upholding international law.'
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