Rocket Lab Stock Jumps as $816M Space Force Satellite Deal, Record 2025 Electron Launches, and Wall Street Upgrades Fuel 2026 Neutron Hopes
December 23, 2025 — Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) is ending 2025 with a rare combination that markets love: a marquee U.S. national security contract, a record-setting launch cadence with a spotless success rate, and a wave of analyst upgrades that are reframing the company as more than a “small rocket” story. After a sharp multi-day rally, shares have been hovering around the high-$70s range this week—near a 52-week high—while headlines across financial media describe the move as everything from a “surge” to a “100% soar.” Investing.com+2Yahoo Finance+2 What’s driving the momentum isn’t a single catalyst. It’s a stack of developments—spanning