Rocket Lab Unveils New Electric Propulsion Satellite Thruster to Meet Constellation Demand
LONG BEACH, Calif., April 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) ("Rocket Lab" or the "Company"), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today introduced a new electric satellite thruster designed for high-volume production to meet the growing demand for reliable satellite propulsion across commercial and national security constellations.
Rocket Lab's in-house designed and manufactured electric propulsion system, named Gauss, features a Hall Thruster, Power Processing Unit and a Propellant Management Assembly. Recognizing the importance of not only bringing a new high-performance electric propulsion system to market, but also making it reliably available at scale, Rocket Lab has already established a high-volume Gauss production line designed to produce more than 200 thrusters per year, ensuring the Company can supply thrusters on demand in large quantities. Electric propulsion thrusters have historically proven extremely difficult to produce in high volumes, causing supply chain fragility for national security and commercial constellation operators alike. Rocket Lab has leveraged extensive propulsion experience, as well as the proven ability to manufacture critical satellite subsystems in high volumes, to finally deliver an electric propulsion solution in the rapidly growing quantities needed by the global space industry.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, said: "Proliferated constellations are now the norm for commercial and national security space users, but the propulsion systems needed to maneuver these spacecraft in orbit have simply not been reliably available at any kind of scale. Rocket Lab is solving this bottleneck with Gauss. We've successfully scaled other satellite components to thousands of units per year to meet the market's needs for volume and speed, now we're giving electric satellite propulsion the same treatment."
The Gauss thruster is designed to produce a higher specific impulse compared to traditional chemical propulsion systems, enabling it to produce more thrust per unit of propellant and making it more efficient for long-duration missions. Because of this high efficiency, the Gauss thruster will allow spacecraft to carry less propellant while still achieving high performance, making it ideal for prolonged missions, such as deep space exploration, and satellite station-keeping within constellations.
In naming the thruster after Carl Friedrich Gauss, Rocket Lab continues a long tradition of naming rocket and spacecraft engines after renowned physicists. The Gauss thruster joins Rocket Lab's existing suite of propulsion systems including the Electron rocket's Rutherford engine, the Neutron rocket's Archimedes engine, and the Electron Kick Stage's Curie engine.
Rocket Lab's Chief Engineer of Special Projects, Shaun O'Donnell, added: "When we identify a supply chain constraint affecting our customers and indeed the wider global space industry, we often look to acquire existing technologies that are high-performing but have struggled to scale production. We explored this as an option for Gauss but ultimately determined we could build the best, high-performance product in house and scale it to meet industry needs ourselves. Propulsion is, after all, embedded in Rocket Lab's DNA. With Rutherford we built the world's first 3D printed orbital rocket engine and have now launched 850 of them to space. Our Curie engines have provided precision maneuverability to enable the successful deployment of more than 200 spacecraft in orbit, including enabling a mission to the Moon and powering innovative Earth re-entry missions. Gauss is the next major step in Rocket Lab's extensive propulsion heritage and a key enabler of the constellations we build for our customers, and for ourselves."
Key Gauss Features:
- Heaterless cathode technology enabling instantaneous start.
- Magnetic shielding reduces erosion and extends lifetime to support long duration missions.
- Efficient GaNFet based electronics for optimized performance.
- Simple software command interface eliminates complex PPU parameter management.
- ITAR/EAR-free design well suited for wide range of LEO constellation applications.
- Xenon propellant (Krypton also possible)
Rocket Lab Media Contact
Morgan Connaughton
[email protected]
About Rocket Lab
Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier, and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle, the HASTE suborbital launch vehicle for hypersonic tests, a family of flight proven spacecraft, and the larger Neutron launch vehicle for constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually. Rocket Lab has deployed more than 250 payloads from its launch sites in the United States and New Zealand for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab's family of spacecraft have been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third launch pad in Virginia. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding our launch and space systems operations, launch schedule and window, safe and repeatable access to space, Neutron development, operational expansion and business strategy are forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "potential," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "strategy," "future," "could," "would," "project," "plan," "target," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the factors, risks and uncertainties included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of our website at www.rocketlabusa.com, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
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