News
Rocket Lab secretly launches revolutionary satellite and readies for US launch debut
Rocket Lab’s recent flawless return to flight mission nicknamed “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical,” set the company up for loftier goals in the latter half of 2020 in a big way. Returning to operation after an in-flight anomaly and subsequent investigation is a massive accomplishment for any launcher. Returning to flight and debuting a pathfinder satellite developed and built in-house, however, solidified Rocket Lab as a full end-to-end space systems company.
For good measure, company founder and chief executive officer, Peter Beck, hopes to round out the year by activating two more Electron launchpads – one of which will be the launcher’s first US-based launch location dedicated to supporting missions for the United States government. Furthermore, following Electron’s seventeenth flight, Rocket Lab hopes to recover the expended first-stage booster – and perhaps more importantly, a mountain of data – as a stepping stone to launch vehicle reuse, a practice pioneered and solely dominated by SpaceX.
A return to flight and an introduction to space systems
Just eight weeks after Electron’s ill-fated thirteenth flight resulting in the loss of a second stage and all customer payloads due to an in-flight electrical anomaly, the next Electron was raised at Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The fourteenth flight of Electron was a dedicated mission for San Francisco-based information services company, Capella Space. Initially announced, the mission deployed a single microsatellite called “Sequoia” to an approximate 500km circular orbit. Peter Beck later confirmed the mission also secretly featured the successful deployment of Rocket Lab’s first in-house designed and built satellite called “First Light.”
“First Light” is a pathfinder spacecraft based on Rocket Lab’s configurable Photon satellite platform. According to Rocket Lab, it exploits Electron’s Kick Stage, “a nimble but powerful extra stage on Electron designed to circularize payload orbits.” The Kick Stage is designed as a satellite bus with extended capabilities to transition into a satellite – Photon – and performing an independent standalone mission. This is exactly what occurred with “First Light.”
Following the deployment of the “Sequoia” microsatellite, Rocket Lab teams signaled the Kick Stage to enable the standalone Photon capabilities. The command transitioned the spacecraft from a delivery vehicle to a fully functional satellite for the very first time. “First Light” serves as the testbed of many upgraded components including improved management systems for power, thermal, and attitude control.
in a statement provided by Rocket Lab Beck said, “Launching the first Photon mission marks a major turning point for space users – it’s now easier to launch and operate a space mission than it has ever been. When our customers choose a launch-plus-spacecraft mission with Electron and Photon, they immediately eliminate the complexity, risk, and delays associated with having to build their own satellite hardware and procure a separate launch.”
Eventually, the extended Photon capabilities of the Kick Stage will be used to support lunar and interplanetary missions. Beck has gone on record many times stating that Rocket Lab is working toward funding a private mission to Venus with a more robust version of the Photon platform which will deploy a probe to collect information about the Venusian atmosphere.
Counting down to Electron’s first launch from Virginia
On September 17, just two weeks after introducing the world to “First Light,” Rocket Lab announced the final successful Electron wet dress rehearsal at its new Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia.
The wet dress rehearsal is a standard preparatory practice of raising the rocket vertical on the launchpad, fueling the rocket, and conducting a practice run of all countdown systems and procedures ahead of a launch attempt. This gives launch teams the opportunity to ensure that the rocket is prepared for flight and work out any kinks that may arise ahead of sending the vehicle to space. The countdown is carried down to T-0 and then the vehicle is emptied and safed.
Recently, Rocket Lab was granted a five-year Launch Operator License by the Federal Aviation Administration for the LC-2 site enabling the space systems company to support up to ten Electron missions a year from U.S. soil. The new operator license combined with the one previously procured for Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand allows Rocket Lab to support up to 130 flights of the Electron rocket globally per year.
It was speculated that Electron’s next flight – and the first launch from LC-2 in Virginia – would be the dedicated STP-27RM mission coordinated by the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. The first from Virginia will launch a single microsatellite for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Monolith program. However, the first mission from Virginia is still waiting on a debut date to be identified.
In order for Electron to fly from Virginia, NASA must first certify Electron’s Autonomous Flight Termination System (AFTS) – a protective measure that will automatically destroy the rocket in a safe manner should anything anomalous occur during first stage flight. Electron’s AFTS has already previously flown numerous times from New Zealand. The first flight from Virginia, however, will be the first time a vehicle will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport with an AFTS.
15 launches, 3 launch pads, and a booster recovery
Until then, Rocket Lab is busy preparing for flight fifteen from New Zealand. The recently announced mission, nicknamed “In Focus,” is a rideshare mission featuring nine SuperDove satellites for Planet Labs and one payload for Spaceflight Inc. customer Canon Electronics Inc.
While preparing for the next flight, nearby Rocket Lab is simultaneously wrapping up construction on yet another launch pad. Launch Complex 1B is very much near completion and is expected to be brought online by year’s end. And that’s not the last goal Rocket Lab looks to achieve by the new year.
Beck has time and time again confirmed that the seventeenth flight of Electron will be the first attempt at recovering an expended first stage booster. Eventually, the company will attempt to catch the booster as it is falling back to Earth under the canopy of a parachute by utilizing a helicopter equipped with a specialized grappling hook. The first attempt at recovering a booster is not expected to be quite as elaborate.
Rocket Lab has strengthened the first-stage booster enough to survive the return trip. Until now, the booster has slammed into the ocean water and broken up into small bits. With the assistance of improved software and a deployable parachute, the booster of flight seventeen is expected to softly float back for a gentle water landing with the assistance of “recovery pontoons” as described in a Twitter post by Beck.
As of now, Rocket Lab has not identified any target dates for the upcoming milestones. The company has previously stated that the first mission from Virginia is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2020. Electron’s next flight – “In Focus” – from New Zealand is expected in the first half of October. Rocket Lab will provide future launch and development updates on their social media accounts.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a photo of himself standing with the Optimus production team inside Tesla’s Fremont factory, arms crossed amid workers in hard hats and safety vests. The image captures a pivotal industrial shift: the same facility space once dedicated to building Tesla’s flagship Model S sedan and Model X SUV is now home to the company’s humanoid robot manufacturing line.
Walking the Optimus production line in Fremont pic.twitter.com/ABS0tuRibW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2026
Tesla’s Fremont Factory, acquired in 2010 from the former NUMMI joint venture between Toyota and GM, has been the company’s original U.S. manufacturing hub since Model S production began in 2012.
The Model X followed soon thereafter. These premium vehicles offered lower annual volumes, recently around 30,000 combined, compared to the high-volume Model 3 and Model Y lines that continue around the site. Over their combined run, the S and X accounted for roughly 610,000 units.
In late January 2026, during Tesla’s Q4 2025 earnings call, Elon Musk announced the end of Model S and Model X production in Q2 2026. The final vehicles rolled off the line in early May. Rather than retooling for another vehicle, Tesla chose to convert the dedicated S/X assembly area into a dedicated Optimus Gen 3 production line.
Model 3 and Y manufacturing remains unaffected. Tesla’s official Fremont Factory page now lists Optimus alongside the 3 and Y as core products.
The conversion was executed with remarkable speed. After production stopped, crews dismantled the existing vehicle line and installed entirely new modular equipment—including lines sourced from Germany and dozens of sub-lines for actuators, batteries, and other components—in roughly four months.
Musk described the timeline as “insanely fast,” noting it would be unprecedented for any other manufacturer. Initial Optimus output is expected to ramp slowly due to the robot’s roughly 10,000 unique parts and the brand-new production processes involved. The Fremont line targets an eventual capacity of 1 million Optimus units per year.
Tesla isn’t joking about building Optimus at an industrial scale: Here we go
Optimus Development Timeline
- August 19, 2021: Optimus (then called Tesla Bot) formally announced at Tesla’s first AI Day. A concept video showed a person in a suit demonstrating the vision for a general-purpose humanoid capable of dangerous, repetitive, or boring tasks using the same AI architecture as Full Self-Driving.
- 2022: Early prototypes displayed. At the second AI Day in September, semi-functional units demonstrated walking across a stage and basic arm movements
- 2023: September videos showed improved capabilities, including sorting colored blocks, precise limb awareness, and holding a Yoda pose.
- 2024-early 2025: Factory integration videos showed Optimus navigating workspaces and handling objects like battery cells.
- January 2026: Gen 3 mass-production activities began at Fremont, with reports of over 1,000 Gen 3 units already operating inside the factory for real-world learning and AI training
- April 2026: Musk confirms Optimus production on converted Fremont line would begin in late July or August 2026. The Gen 3 reveal, originally eyed for Q1, was pushed closer to production start. A second, much larger Optimus factory at Giga Texas is under construction, with volume production targeted for Summer 2027 and long-term capacity of 10 million units annually
- July 1, 2026: Musk’s on-site visit and team photo confirm the Optimus line is operational and the transition is actively progressing
Tesla positions Optimus as potentially its largest project ever, leveraging vertical integration, AI expertise, and car-like manufacturing know-how to scale humanoid robots first for its own factories and later for broader industrial and consumer use.
The Fremont conversion serves as a critical proving ground for this ambitious new chapter in Tesla’s already-rich history.
Investor's Corner
Tesla gets its latest short from Michael Burry: ‘Happy it jumped back to this level’
Tesla short seller Michael Burry, the subject of the film “The Big Short,” where he was portrayed by Steve Carell, has revealed he has opened a new bet against the stock.
In a new update to his Substack newsletter in a post titled “Trading Post June 30, 2026,” Burry revealed a new set of bets against Tesla, Caterpillar, NVIDIA, Applied Materials Inc., and the iShares Semiconductor ETF.
In regard to Tesla, Burry wrote:
“And finally I shorted Tesla at 416.22. Happy it jumped back to this level.”
This means Burry likely opened his new short position after the company’s recent rally on Wall Street, which saw Tesla shares sink in mid-May, only to recover to well over the $400 mark. Currently, shares trade at around $427.
The company saw a big Tuesday as shares climbed considerably, over 10 percent. The size of the Tesla short was not provided, nor did Burry give any information on the position’s structure, the number of shares, dollar value, or whether options were used in the short.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
Over the years, Burry has been one of the more vocal critics of Tesla, calling its share price “media inflated,” and saying it was “ridiculously overvalued” as recently as December.
The company has largely transitioned away from being known as an automotive company and instead is much more widely regarded as an AI play, mostly due to its Full Self-Driving efforts, Optimus robot development, and data collection related to both.
This has not pulled those skeptics away from being vocal about their distaste for how Tesla is valued, but there’s no denying that the company is a global force in many things, including sustainable energy, automotive, and AI.
Wedbush Securities is initiating stock coverage on SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX), marking the first comments on the company since it went public several weeks ago. Wedbush and its analyst handling coverage, Dan Ives, are widely bullish on fellow Musk company Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Ives wrote his first note initiating coverage of SpaceX shares on Wednesday with a $190 price target and an ‘Outperform’ rating. The firm believes the company is well positioned off of its IPO because of its wide array of projects, including AI compute power and infrastructure, connectivity projects, and launches.
“We view SpaceX as one of the most differentiated assets within the tech market with a strong footprint across its three core markets, with Starlink driving success with connectivity,” Ives wrote, “Starship launches leading to a demand flywheel and increasing deal flow for its Colossus clusters.”
Elon Musk called it Epic: The full story of SpaceX’s Starship Flight 12
Wedbush leans heavily on Starlink, which they say is the “profitability driver given the strength of its recurring revenue base of ~12 million subscribers as of June 5th.” Ives believes Starlink is still in the “early innings” of penetrating the global telecommunications and broadband market, as it only holds less than a 1 percent share. However, this number is sure to increase over time.
It also highlights the importance of Starship, which it says is an “essential layer” of SpaceX’s overall success. SpaceX developing and displaying the ability to reuse rockets is a major cost and reliability advantage “as it reduces the necessary hardware launch costs while generating a feedback loop for future flights to improve their launch flight rate without accelerating capex spend.”
Finally, SpaceX’s recent AI/Compute projects are also very elementary, Ives writes. It is worth mentioning Wedbush said its $190 price target is derived from a valuation forecast that sees the company yielding roughly $2.48 trillion of implied enterprise value.
There are also some factors that Wedbush did not take into account with its initial coverage. The firm wrote in the note:
“We note that there is optional value coming from Starship’s accelerating scale towards sub-$200/kg unit economics, orbital data centers, and enterprise AI monetization as these factors could drive meaningful upside but these face major hurdles, so we do not take that into account with our valuation.”
SpaceX shares are down just over 2 percent today, trading at around $167 at the time of publication.
Tesla Optimus project fires up as Musk sees production line progress
Tesla gets its latest short from Michael Burry: ‘Happy it jumped back to this level’
