NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 10:45 ET — Market closed
- Rocket Lab (RKLB) closed up 8.9% at $75.99 on Friday after a wide $66.85–$76.24 swing. 1
- A late-day SEC filing showed Rocket Lab officer Frank Klein filed to sell up to 100,000 shares under Rule 144. 2
- Investors remain focused on the company’s $816 million Space Development Agency satellite award announced in mid-December. 3
Rocket Lab shares jumped 8.9% on Friday, closing at $75.99, as investors continued to trade the space and defense supplier aggressively into the first full trading days of 2026. 1
The move matters now because Rocket Lab’s rally has been tied to investor focus on U.S. defense-related space spending, while insiders and early holders have begun to outline potential share sales through regulatory filings. 3
With U.S. markets closed on Saturday, traders are looking to Monday for whether Friday’s rebound holds after the stock’s sharp intraday volatility. 1
Rocket Lab traded between $66.85 and $76.24 on Friday and finished the session with about 31.2 million shares changing hands, StockAnalysis data showed. The stock was up about 0.3% in after-hours trading on Friday. 1
After the close, a Form 144 filing showed Rocket Lab officer Frank Klein disclosed a plan to sell up to 100,000 shares, implying a market value of about $7.0 million, according to the submission. 2
A Form 144 is a notice of a proposed sale of restricted or affiliate-held shares under SEC Rule 144, and it does not mean the shares have already been sold. The filing referenced “10b5-1” sales, a pre-arranged trading plan that allows executives to sell shares on a set schedule. 2
Rocket Lab’s latest major corporate catalyst remains its Space Development Agency win announced on Dec. 19, when the company said it had been awarded an $816 million prime contract to build 18 missile-warning and tracking satellites for the SDA’s Tranche 3 Tracking Layer program. 3
“Rocket Lab is honored to play a role in enabling this,” founder and CEO Peter Beck said in the company’s release. 3
Reuters reported the SDA’s broader Tranche 3 awards totaled about $3.5 billion across four suppliers — Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris and Rocket Lab — for 72 satellites in all, with launches expected in 2029. 4
Rocket Lab has positioned itself as both a launch provider and a space-systems manufacturer, and has highlighted vertically integrated production — building major spacecraft components in-house — as it pushes deeper into national-security work. 3
Even after Friday’s jump, the stock had fallen about 1.5% over the last five sessions, MarketScreener data showed, underscoring how quickly sentiment has been swinging around the name. 5
Before the next session, investors will watch for any additional insider-trading disclosures and for clarity on the timing of Rocket Lab’s next quarterly report. Rocket Lab has not confirmed a date; third-party calendars variously point to late February or early March. 6
Macro data could also drive appetite for high-growth aerospace names next week. The U.S. Labor Department’s monthly employment report for December is scheduled for Jan. 9 at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting is set for Jan. 27–28. 7
Technically, traders will be watching Friday’s extremes as near-term signposts — $76.24 as immediate resistance and $66.85 as a nearby support level — after a session that showed how quickly liquidity can thin when momentum shifts. 1
