Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (RKLB) is experiencing a downturn today, potentially influenced by recent developments surrounding its Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission proposal. Despite Rocket Lab's ambitious offer to complete the mission for less than $4 billion and as early as 2031, NASA has decided to delay the MSR mission for another 18 months to consider various proposals. This delay could push the mission's completion past the original target date of 2040, creating uncertainty about Rocket Lab's potential involvement and impacting investor sentiment.
Additionally, the recent announcement of Rocket Lab's Neutron rocket being included in NASA's VADR contract has not provided the expected boost to the stock. While this expansion of services is a positive development, it seems the market had already priced in the news, and it hasn't significantly shifted investor confidence. The broader space economy's potential growth, as highlighted by Novaspace's prediction of a $1 trillion valuation in the next decade, has not been enough to counteract the immediate concerns over the MSR mission delay.
Rocket Lab's stock is currently trading at $25.14, down 6.59% from the previous close of $26.91. Despite being just 30 minutes into the trading day, the stock has seen a volume of 4,666,850 shares, representing 21.93% of the average daily volume of 21,276,472 shares.