Rocket Lab USA Inc (RKLB) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Jessica, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Rocket Lab First Quarter 2023 Financial Results Update and Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the conference over to Colin Canfield, Investor Relations Manager. Please go ahead, sir.

你好，謝謝你的支持。我叫傑西卡，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線員。此時，我想歡迎大家參加 Rocket Lab 2023 年第一季度財務業績更新和電話會議。 （操作員說明）我現在想將會議轉交給投資者關係經理 Colin Canfield。請繼續，先生。

Thank you. Hello, everyone. We're glad to have you join us today for today's conference call to discuss Rocket Lab's First Quarter 2023 Financial Results. Before we begin the call, I'd like to remind you that our remarks may contain forward-looking statements that relate to the future performance of the company, and these statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbor protection from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.

謝謝。大家好。我們很高興您今天加入我們今天的電話會議，討論 Rocket Lab 的 2023 年第一季度財務業績。在我們開始通話之前，我想提醒您，我們的言論可能包含與公司未來業績相關的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述旨在符合 Private 建立的免於承擔責任的安全港保護證券訴訟改革法。

Any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and factors that could influence our results are highlighted in today's press release, and others are contained in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such statements are based upon information available to the company as of the date hereof and are subject to change for future developments. Except as required by law, the company does not undertake any obligation to update these statements. Our remarks and press release today also contain non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G enacted by the SEC.

任何此類聲明都不是未來業績的保證，今天的新聞稿中強調了可能影響我們業績的因素，其他因素包含在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中。此類聲明基於截至本協議發布之日公司可獲得的信息，並可能因未來發展而發生變化。除法律要求外，本公司不承擔任何更新這些聲明的義務。我們今天的評論和新聞稿還包含美國證券交易委員會頒布的條例 G 含義內的非 GAAP 財務指標。

Included in such release and our supplemental materials are reconciliations of these historical non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. This call is also being webcast with a supporting presentation and a replay and copy of the presentation will be available on our website. Our presenters today are Rocket Lab Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Beck; and Chief Financial Officer, Adam Spice. After our prepared comments, we will take questions. And now let me turn the call over to Mr. Beck.

包含在此類發布和我們的補充材料中的是這些歷史非 GAAP 財務措施與根據 GAAP 計算的可比財務措施的調節。此電話會議還通過支持演示文稿進行網絡直播，我們的網站上將提供該演示文稿的重播和副本。今天我們的主持人是 Rocket Lab 創始人兼首席執行官 Peter Beck；和首席財務官 Adam Spice。在我們準備好的評論之後，我們將回答問題。現在讓我把電話轉給貝克先生。

Thanks, Colin, and welcome, everybody, and thank you for joining us. Today's presentation will go over our key business accomplishments for the first quarter of 2023, as well as further achievements we've made since the end of the quarter. Adam will then take us through our financial results for the first quarter before covering the financial outlook for Q2 2023. After that, we'll take some questions and finish today's call with the near-term conferences we'll be attending.

謝謝 Colin，歡迎大家，感謝您加入我們。今天的演講將回顧我們 2023 年第一季度的主要業務成就，以及自本季度末以來取得的進一步成就。然後，亞當將向我們介紹第一季度的財務業績，然後介紹 2023 年第二季度的財務前景。之後，我們將回答一些問題，並在我們將參加的近期會議中結束今天的電話會議。

All right, on to what we achieved for the first quarter of the year. We started the year strong with 3 successful Electron launches, matching our expectations for the quarter. Each of these missions achieved an important company milestone. In January, we launched our first mission from U.S. soil. We quickly followed that up by a second U.S. launch from NASA Wallops in March. And then just 7 days later, we had a successful launch from our LC1 launch site in New Zealand.

好吧，關於我們今年第一季度取得的成就。我們以 3 次成功的 Electron 發布開啟了新的一年，符合我們對本季度的預期。這些任務中的每一個都實現了一個重要的公司里程碑。一月份，我們從美國本土發起了第一次任務。我們很快在 3 月份從 NASA Wallops 進行了第二次美國發射。然後僅僅 7 天后，我們在新西蘭的 LC1 發射場成功發射。

Not only was this our fastest turnaround for launch to date, but by doing it from 2 different launch sites and countries really demonstrated the level of flexibility and responsiveness that we're delivering to customers now. Achieving this high launch cadence early in the year sets us up well to hit our 15 Electron missions for 2023 as planned.

這不僅是我們迄今為止最快的發布周轉時間，而且通過在 2 個不同的發布站點和國家/地區進行，真正展示了我們現在向客戶提供的靈活性和響應能力水平。在今年年初實現這種高發射節奏使我們能夠按計劃完成 2023 年的 15 次 Electron 任務。

At a time when we're seeing many small launch companies fail to service the market, we're continuing to deliver successful missions for our customers. We're experiencing a correlated increase in launch bookings for Electron in 2023 and beyond from our new and returning customers across government and commercial sectors.

在我們看到許多小型發射公司無法為市場服務的時候，我們將繼續為我們的客戶提供成功的任務。 2023 年及以後，我們在政府和商業部門的新客戶和回頭客對 Electron 的啟動預訂出現了相關的增長。

Our progress with Neutron is strong as well. We started off the year with a payment from the U.S. Space Force as part of a formal program milestone we met. This was recognized revenue in the first quarter, which is great. Later in the presentation, I'll delve into some of the key launch vehicle and program development updates for Neutron.

我們在 Neutron 方面的進展也很強勁。作為我們遇到的正式計劃里程碑的一部分，我們以美國太空部隊的付款開始了這一年。這是第一季度確認的收入，這很好。在稍後的演示中，我將深入研究 Neutron 的一些關鍵運載火箭和程序開發更新。

Space systems business also took some really big wins this quarter with Rocket Lab satellite components or software featuring on 18 spacecrafts across 8 missions. We're seeing continued booking strength in our solar power division, and we also had some major program milestones in 2 of our most significant satellite builds that I'll take you through as well.

太空系統業務本季度也取得了一些非常大的勝利，Rocket Lab 衛星組件或軟件在 8 個任務的 18 個航天器上使用。我們看到我們太陽能部門的預訂量持續強勁，而且我們在兩個最重要的衛星建造中也有一些重要的計劃里程碑，我也會帶您一探究竟。

As mentioned, a strong first quarter for Electron launches, two missions from Launch Complex 2 in Virginia and a third from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, including that rapid 7-day turnaround between the 2 launch sites. All of these missions were for commercial constellation operators, all of whom have signed bulk dedicated launch contracts.

如前所述，Electron 發射的第一季度表現強勁，來自弗吉尼亞州 Launch Complex 2 的兩次任務和新西蘭 Launch Complex 1 的第三次任務，包括 2 個發射場之間的 7 天快速周轉。所有這些任務都是針對商業星座運營商的，他們都簽署了批量專用發射合同。

Across more than 36 Electron launches, it has proven itself as a reliable workforce for commercial and government providers alike. Commercial satellite operators need to pin satellites to unique orbits and Electron remains the only small launch vehicle delivering this consistently. In fact, even today, Electron is the only U.S. small launch vehicle to successfully deliver satellites in orbit in all of 2023.

在超過 36 次 Electron 發布中，它已證明自己是商業和政府供應商的可靠勞動力。商業衛星運營商需要將衛星固定在獨特的軌道上，而 Electron 仍然是唯一能夠始終如一地提供這種服務的小型運載火箭。事實上，即使在今天，Electron 仍是唯一在 2023 年全年成功將衛星送入軌道的美國小型運載火箭。

One of the latest multi-launch deals was signed in February with Capella space. The deal will see us fly 4 more dedicated Electron missions for Capella from Launch Complex 1. With Launch Complex now operational, we have the flexibility to move any of those missions to the U.S. if we need to meet our customer or mission requirements.

2 月份與 Capella Space 簽署了最新的多項發射協議之一。這筆交易將使我們從 Launch Complex 1 為 Capella 執行 4 次專門的 Electron 任務。隨著 Launch Complex 現已投入運營，如果我們需要滿足客戶或任務要求，我們可以靈活地將任何這些任務轉移到美國。

On to Big Rockets now. Development of Neutron continues at pace with the team hitting some key development milestones in Q1. We are working steadily towards our first full-scale neutron booster at our U.S. facilities, while at the same time closing on a full-scale Neutron second stage, including all composite parts ahead of flight hardware tank tested in Q2. These latest photos from the factory show the size of those tanks.

現在去大火箭隊。隨著團隊在第一季度達到一些關鍵的開發里程碑，Neutron 的開發繼續保持同步。我們正在美國工廠穩步推進我們的第一個全尺寸中子助推器，同時關閉全尺寸中子第二階段，包括在第二季度測試的飛行硬件罐之前的所有復合部件。這些來自工廠的最新照片顯示了這些坦克的大小。

In Q1, we also reached a U.S. Space Force payment milestone for completing successful development phases of Neutron. This payment is part of a $24 million contract awarded to us by the Space Force to develop Neutrons upper stage to maximize mass-to-orbit capability, orbital insertion accuracy and responsive dedicated launch. These are all capabilities that position Neutron well to launch the highest priority national defense and security missions awarded through Lane 1 of the national security space launch Phase 3 program or NSSL Phase 3.

在第一季度，我們還達到了美國太空部隊完成 Neutron 成功開發階段的付款里程碑。這筆付款是太空部隊授予我們的 2400 萬美元合同的一部分，該合同用於開發中子上層級，以最大限度地提高質量到軌道能力、軌道插入精度和響應性專用發射。這些都是使 Neutron 能夠很好地啟動通過國家安全太空發射第 3 階段計劃或 NSSL 第 3 階段計劃的第 1 道授予的最高優先級國防和安全任務的所有能力。

Meanwhile, we're progressing well with Neutrons for usable engines, the Archimedes. Full-scale Archimedes engine components are coming off the 3D printers, including injectors, combustion chambers. This is a great progression in the Archimedes' development and it proves out the advanced additive manufacturing techniques that we have planned for these engines.

與此同時，我們在可用引擎 Archimedes 的 Neutrons 方面進展順利。全尺寸的阿基米德發動機部件正在從 3D 打印機打印出來，包括噴射器、燃燒室。這是阿基米德發展的一大進步，它證明了我們為這些發動機計劃的先進增材製造技術。

But as I've always said, a rocket is only 1/3 of the puzzle when developing an orbital launch capability at scale. We also need advanced launch tests and manufacturing facilities and systems. So while the vehicle team advances Neutrons development, our ground systems and manufacturing teams have made significant progress developing test infrastructure, progressing the construction of Launch Complex 3 for Neutron, and commissioning several new large-scale 3D printing machines and vehicle assembly facilities to enable rapid production.

但正如我一直所說的那樣，在大規模開發軌道發射能力時，火箭只是難題的 1/3。我們還需要先進的發射測試以及製造設施和系統。因此，在車輛團隊推進 Neutrons 開發的同時，我們的地面系統和製造團隊在開發測試基礎設施、推進 Neutron Launch Complex 3 的建設以及調試幾台新的大型 3D 打印機和車輛組裝設施方面取得了重大進展，以實現快速生產。

Last but not least, we are well into flight software simulations now that the vehicle design is advanced and production is underway. Software has always been a key differentiator for Rocket Lab, whether it's Electron or a Photon spacecraft. We develop, test and fly our own tailored software, enabling us to drive peak performance out of our vehicles.

最後但並非最不重要的一點是，由於車輛設計先進且生產正在進行中，我們已經很好地進行了飛行軟件模擬。軟件一直是 Rocket Lab 的關鍵差異化因素，無論是 Electron 還是 Photon 航天器。我們開發、測試和運行我們自己定制的軟件，使我們能夠從我們的車輛中獲得最佳性能。

I'm pleased to report that we are flying successful orbital mission simulations to a range of orbits and mission profiles with our GNC or guidance navigation control and flight codes to fit to the current vehicles design and configuration. We fly thousands of these flight simulations for every single Electron mission, and this has been a key factor in delivering reliable, successful missions for years. So it's important to be achieving this for Neutron this early.

我很高興地報告，我們正在使用我們的 GNC 或製導導航控制和飛行代碼對一系列軌道和任務剖面進行成功的軌道任務模擬，以適應當前的飛行器設計和配置。我們為每一次 Electron 任務飛行了數千次這樣的飛行模擬，這是多年來提供可靠、成功任務的關鍵因素。因此，儘早為 Neutron 實現這一目標非常重要。

On to Space Systems now. This part of our business just keeps going from strength to strength. 2022 was the year that we cemented Rocket Lab's position as a leading spacecraft and spacecraft component manufacturer. And now we've truly moved into large-scale manufacturing and execution. There have been more milestones and achievements than we can probably -- we won't have time to cover in this presentation. So I'll just hit some highlights. Eight launches in Q1, deployed more than 18 spacecrafts featuring Rocket Lab software or hardware, including missions for commercial constellation customers like BlackSky, Capella and OneWeb.

現在進入太空系統。我們業務的這一部分不斷發展壯大。 2022 年是我們鞏固 Rocket Lab 作為領先航天器和航天器部件製造商地位的一年。現在我們已經真正進入大規模製造和執行。已經有比我們可能更多的里程碑和成就——我們沒有時間在本次演講中介紹。所以我只會說一些亮點。第一季度發射了 8 次，部署了超過 18 個配備 Rocket Lab 軟件或硬件的航天器，包括為 BlackSky、Capella 和 OneWeb 等商業星座客戶執行的任務。

We have more than 25 spacecrafts in development for various customers, including a NASA mission to Mars, a communications constellation for Globalstar, in-space manufacturing satellites, and an on-orbit fueling depot. To achieve this, we have scaled our Space Systems teams, expanded our manufacturing and development facilities and of course, vertically integrated all of our four Space Systems acquisitions into our Photon spacecraft manufacturing programs. As part of that growth, we're seeing continued booking strength in our Solar Solutions division, in particular, and several major production milestones hit for up and coming missions.

我們正在為各種客戶開發超過 25 種航天器，包括 NASA 火星任務、全球星通信星座、太空製造衛星和在軌加油站。為實現這一目標，我們擴大了我們的空間系統團隊，擴大了我們的製造和開發設施，當然，還將我們所有的四個空間系統收購垂直整合到我們的光子航天器製造計劃中。作為這種增長的一部分，我們看到我們的太陽能解決方案部門的預訂量持續強勁，特別是，以及即將到來的任務的幾個主要生產里程碑。

Production is now well underway for our twin spacecraft that we're building for the NASA ESCAPADE mission to Mars. A 2024 launch date has now been set, allowing us to move forward with the assembly, integration and testing at our satellite production facility in Long Beach.

我們為 NASA ESCAPADE 火星任務建造的雙航天器目前正在順利生產。現在已經確定了 2024 年的發射日期，這使我們能夠在我們位於長灘的衛星生產設施中進行組裝、集成和測試。

Now on to our key achievements since the end of Q1. Just 2 days ago, we successfully launched the first of 2 dedicated missions for NASA to deploy the TROPICS constellation. This is a really critical constellation that will monitor tropical storms with higher revisit time than typical weather satellites, providing forecasters with more accurate storm data and to provide advance warnings and ultimately to save lives. With this first mission now complete, we'll be following up with a second one in about 12 days, and that will complete the constellation in time for the North American hurricane season.

現在談談我們自第一季度末以來取得的主要成就。就在 2 天前，我們成功啟動了 NASA 部署熱帶星座的 2 個專門任務中的第一個。這是一個非常重要的星座，它將以比典型氣象衛星更長的重訪時間監測熱帶風暴，為預報員提供更準確的風暴數據，並提供預警並最終挽救生命。現在第一個任務已經完成，我們將在大約 12 天內跟進第二個任務，這將在北美颶風季節前及時完成星座。

Speaking of NASA, we've been awarded another mission by the agency. Electron will launch NASA's Starling mission, a multi-CubeSat mission to test and demonstrate autonomous swarm technologies. We're set to deploy these 4 satellites to orbit within just 3 months of contract signing. They were previously manifested on a different launch vehicle, but due to long delays and continued uncertainty, they have been remanifested on Electron for Q3 this year. We recently signed multiple dedicated and rideshare launch contracts on Electron, including many with new customers who were previously manifested on other small launch vehicles, but have moved to Electron after facing lengthy delays and uncertainty with other providers. This migration is a testament to Electron's demonstrated position as the reliable, dependable ride to orbit for small sats.

說到 NASA，我們又獲得了該機構的另一項任務。 Electron 將發射 NASA 的 Starling 任務，這是一個多 CubeSat 任務，用於測試和演示自主集群技術。我們準備在合同簽署後的短短 3 個月內將這 4 顆衛星部署到軌道。它們之前曾出現在不同的運載火箭上，但由於長時間的延遲和持續的不確定性，今年第三季度它們已在 Electron 上重新出現。我們最近在 Electron 上簽署了多項專用和拼車發射合同，其中包括許多新客戶，這些新客戶以前曾在其他小型運載火箭上出現過，但在與其他供應商面臨長期延誤和不確定性後已轉向 Electron。這種遷移證明了 Electron 作為小型衛星進入軌道的可靠、可靠的定位。

Hypersonics. So hypersonic and suborbital test capabilities are key priorities for the nation. Despite how critical these capabilities are, the supply of sustainable and suitable vehicles and wind tunnels is severely constrained. And this has proven this is a problem that we can actually solve right now. This quarter, we formally introduced HASTE, the hypersonic accelerator suborbital test Electron, a suborbital test launch vehicle that is derived from the Electron. HASTE provides reliable, high-cadence, flight test opportunities needed to advance hypersonic systems.

超音速。因此，高超音速和亞軌道測試能力是國家的關鍵優先事項。儘管這些能力非常重要，但可持續和合適的車輛和風洞的供應受到嚴重限制。這證明這是一個我們現在可以實際解決的問題。本季度，我們正式推出了高超音速加速器亞軌道試驗電子HASTE，這是一種由電子衍生而來的亞軌道試驗運載火箭。 HASTE 提供了推進高超音速系統所需的可靠、高節奏的飛行測試機會。

This isn't the promise of a future capability. In fact, the first rocket is at LC2 Virginia undergoing its final preparations for launch right now. HASTE has been selected for a range of government programs, including the Navy Crane's MACH-TB project, DIU's HyCAT program, and Missile Defense Agency's Targets and Countermeasures. For more on HASTE, I encourage and refer you to the press release issued on April 17 available on our website.

這不是對未來能力的承諾。事實上，第一枚火箭正在弗吉尼亞 LC2 進行最後的發射準備。 HASTE 已被一系列政府項目選中，包括海軍起重機的 MACH-TB 項目、DIU 的 HyCAT 項目以及導彈防禦局的目標和對策。有關 HASTE 的更多信息，我鼓勵並推薦您參閱我們網站上 4 月 17 日發布的新聞稿。

This quarter, we also completed extensive final qualification and testing on the first Rutherford engine that will be flying into space for a second time. This is an engine that we launched last year as part of our reusability program, and now we've brought it back to the factory, run it through a gauntlet of tests and have put it back into the production flow to join a rocket for launch in Q3 later this year. This is a big step forward in our reusability program and one of the few remaining milestones before moving into full stage reuse.

本季度，我們還完成了對將第二次飛入太空的第一台盧瑟福發動機的廣泛最終鑑定和測試。這是我們去年作為可重用性計劃的一部分推出的發動機，現在我們將其帶回工廠，通過一系列測試運行它，然後將其重新投入生產流程以加入火箭發射今年晚些時候的第三季度。這是我們可重用性計劃向前邁出的一大步，也是進入全階段重用之前為數不多的里程碑之一。

Last week, we shipped our first of 4 Photon spacecrafts for Varda Space Industries, an in-space manufacturing company planning to manufacture high-value products and pharmaceuticals in space. This is a big milestone for our Space Systems team and a great way to start a busy year of satellite production that will see us work on NASA's and Eta Space's LOXSAT, Photon, and also spacecraft bus to support fuel depots in space. Photon spacecraft mission for Mars also is in development, plus 17 spacecraft satellite buses for Globalstar.

上週，我們為 Varda Space Industries 運送了 4 艘光子航天器中的第一艘，Varda Space Industries 是一家太空製造公司，計劃在太空製造高價值產品和藥品。這對我們的空間系統團隊來說是一個重要的里程碑，也是開始忙碌的一年衛星生產的好方法，我們將在 NASA 和 Eta Space 的 LOXSAT、Photon 以及航天器總線上工作，以支持太空中的燃料庫。火星光子航天器任務也在開發中，另外還有 17 艘全球星航天器衛星巴士。

And last but not least, this quarter we introduced a new star tracker designed specifically for constellations. The latest star tracker is a new version of our existing high-performance star tracker, but is evolved for mass manufacturing and can be used as a responsive small satellite solution that joins a growing list of spacecraft components that we've recently developed and released, including reaction wheels, satellite radios to make best-in-class off-the-shelf Space Systems hardware available for commercially and also at scale.

最後但並非最不重要的一點是，本季度我們推出了專為星座設計的新型星體追踪器。最新的星體跟踪器是我們現有高性能星體跟踪器的新版本，但經過改進可用於大規模製造，可用作響應式小型衛星解決方案，加入我們最近開發和發布的越來越多的航天器組件列表，包括反作用輪、衛星無線電，使一流的現成空間系統硬件可用於商業和規模化。

So with that, I'll hand over to Adam to present the financial highlights and outlook.

因此，我將交給亞當介紹財務亮點和前景。

Thanks, Pete. First quarter 2023 revenue was $54.9 million, which was above the high end of our prior guidance of $51 million to $54 million. First quarter 2023 revenue reflects sequential growth of 6% and the result of 3 successful launches and continued strong contribution from our Space Systems business. Our Launch Services business delivered revenue of $19.6 million in the quarter off of 3 launches, which was modestly above our prior guidance of $19 million. The resulting average revenue per launch came in below our standard pricing due to a partially filled rideshare mission where we prioritized getting our first LC2 launch off versus opting to delay the launch to fill up the remaining rideshare capacity.

謝謝，皮特。 2023 年第一季度的收入為 5490 萬美元，高於我們之前 5100 萬至 5400 萬美元的預期上限。 2023 年第一季度的收入反映了 6% 的連續增長以及 3 次成功發射的結果以及我們空間系統業務的持續強勁貢獻。我們的發射服務業務在本季度的 3 次發射中實現了 1960 萬美元的收入，略高於我們之前 1900 萬美元的預期。由於拼車任務部分完成，因此每次發布的平均收入低於我們的標准定價，在該任務中，我們優先考慮首次推出 LC2，而不是選擇延遲發布以填補剩餘的拼車容量。

As we progress through the year, including what is embedded in the current Q2 guide to be discussed later, our manifest indicates a trend towards higher-priced missions. Our Space Systems business delivered $35.3 million in the quarter, which exceeded the high end of our prior guidance range of $32 million to $35 million, with strength in key programs across defense, civil and commercial customers, and despite delayed revenue recognition impacts from vertically integrated supply of components for Photon satellite build programs.

隨著我們這一年的進展，包括稍後將討論的當前第二季度指南中嵌入的內容，我們的清單表明了執行更高價任務的趨勢。我們的空間系統業務在本季度交付了 3530 萬美元，超過了我們之前 3200 萬至 3500 萬美元的指導範圍的高端，在國防、民用和商業客戶的關鍵項目中表現強勁，儘管垂直整合的收入確認延遲影響為 Photon 衛星構建程序提供組件。

Now turning to gross margin. GAAP gross margin for the first quarter was 11.6%, well above the high end of our guidance range of negative 5% to negative 3%. Non-GAAP gross margin for the first quarter was 17.9%, which was also well above our guidance range of 7% to 9%. GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin improvements relative to our Q4 '22 results reflect a combination of increased launch cadence, an increase in average launch price, and a favorable mix within our SolAero and PSC businesses, as well as improved mix between components and services at the segment level.

現在轉向毛利率。第一季度的 GAAP 毛利率為 11.6%，遠高於我們負 5% 至負 3% 的指導範圍的上限。第一季度的非美國通用會計準則毛利率為 17.9%，也遠高於我們 7% 至 9% 的指導範圍。 GAAP 和非 GAAP 毛利率相對於我們 22 年第四季度業績的改善反映了發布節奏的增加、平均發布價格的增加、我們 SolAero 和 PSC 業務的有利組合，以及組件和服務之間的改進組合在段級別。

Additionally, gross margins benefited from greater electron production efficiency, which has allowed us to shift or redirect production resources to support Neutron and Photon R&D programs, thereby moderating incremental R&D headcount hiring. Relatedly, we ended Q1 with production-related headcount of 757, down 61 from the prior quarter.

此外，毛利率得益於更高的電子生產效率，這使我們能夠轉移或重新定向生產資源以支持中子和光子研發項目，從而緩和增量研發人員的招聘。相關地，我們在第一季度結束時與生產相關的員工人數為 757 人，比上一季度減少了 61 人。

Turning to operating expenses. GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter of 2023 were $52.4 million, above the high end of our guidance range of $44 million to $46 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter were $40.2 million, which was also above our guidance range of $33 million to $35 million. The increase in both GAAP and non-GAAP total operating expenses versus the fourth quarter of 2022 was primarily driven by a step-up in staff cost and material purchases supporting Neutron and Photon development, partially offset by a $1.7 million employee retention credit recorded in Q1. In R&D specifically, GAAP and non-GAAP expenses were up $8.9 million quarter-on-quarter as we continued to aggressively ramp up our Neutron development efforts through both new hires and redeployment of existing production resources.

轉向運營費用。 2023 年第一季度的 GAAP 運營費用為 5240 萬美元，高於我們 4400 萬至 4600 萬美元指導範圍的上限。第一季度的非 GAAP 運營費用為 4020 萬美元，也高於我們 3300 萬至 3500 萬美元的指導範圍。與 2022 年第四季度相比，GAAP 和非 GAAP 總運營費用的增加主要是由於支持 Neutron 和 Photon 開發的員工成本和材料採購的增加，部分被第一季度記錄的 170 萬美元的員工保留信貸所抵消.特別是在研發方面，GAAP 和非 GAAP 費用環比增加 890 萬美元，因為我們繼續通過新員工和重新部署現有生產資源來積極加強我們的 Neutron 開發工作。

Q1 ending R&D headcount was 456, representing an increase of 90 from 348 in the prior quarter. In SG&A, GAAP expenses increased $4.4 million quarter-on-quarter, driven primarily by staff costs, including stock-based compensation and outside services, in particular, our year-end audit and SOX-related costs. Non-GAAP SG&A expenses increased by $3.9 million, driven by the same items excluding stock-based compensation. Q1 ending SG&A headcount was 219, representing an increase of 22% from the prior quarter. In summary, total headcount was 1,432 as of March 31, 2023, up 51 heads from the prior quarter.

第一季度末研發人數為 456 人，比上一季度的 348 人增加了 90 人。在 SG&A 方面，GAAP 支出環比增加 440 萬美元，主要受員工成本推動，包括基於股票的薪酬和外部服務，特別是我們的年終審計和 SOX 相關成本。非美國通用會計準則的 SG&A 費用增加了 390 萬美元，這是由不包括基於股票的薪酬的相同項目推動的。第一季度末 SG&A 員工人數為 219 人，比上一季度增長 22%。總之，截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日，總員工人數為 1,432 人，比上一季度增加 51 人。

Cash consumed from operations was $25.4 million in the first quarter of 2023, compared to $18.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The sequential increase of $6.4 million was driven primarily by an increase in GAAP loss as working capital was flattish during Q1. Purchases of property, equipment and capitalized software licenses decreased from $15 million in Q4 of 2022 to $12.7 million in Q1 of 2023. This sequential decline is largely related to the timing of goods received and payment terms as we continue our investments in Neutron and Photon production equipment and facilities enhancements.

2023 年第一季度運營消耗的現金為 2540 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季度為 1890 萬美元。連續增加 640 萬美元主要是由於第一季度營運資金持平，導致 GAAP 虧損增加。財產、設備和資本化軟件許可證的採購從 2022 年第四季度的 1500 萬美元減少到 2023 年第一季度的 1270 萬美元。這種環比下降主要與我們繼續投資中子和光子生產的收貨時間和付款條件有關設備和設施的改進。

Overall, non-GAAP free cash flow, defined as GAAP operating cash flow, reduced by purchases of property, equipment and capitalized software in the first quarter of 2023 was $38.1 million compared to $33.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The ending balance of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities was $450 million as of the (technical difficulty) first quarter of 2023. And with that, (technical difficulty). We expect revenue in the second quarter to range between $60 million and $63 million, which reflects $37 million to $40 million of contribution from Space Systems and $23 million from Launch Services, which assumes 3 launches or 2 (technical difficulty) quarter.

總體而言，非 GAAP 自由現金流（定義為 GAAP 運營現金流）在 2023 年第一季度因購買財產、設備和資本化軟件而減少，為 3810 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季度為 3390 萬美元。截至 2023 年第一季度（技術難度），現金、現金等價物、受限制現金和有價證券為 4.5 億美元。此外，（技術難度）。我們預計第二季度的收入將在 6000 萬美元到 6300 萬美元之間，這反映了 Space Systems 的 3700 萬美元到 4000 萬美元的貢獻和發射服務的 2300 萬美元，假設 3 次發射或 2 個（技術難度）季度。

One of the 3 launches forecasted in Q2 was Sunday's successful NASA TROPICS mission out of LC1 in New Zealand. As referenced earlier, based on our manifested launch backlog, we continue to expect 15 launches in 2023 and our average selling price to trend to our standard pricing as we progress through the remainder of 2023. We expect second quarter GAAP gross margin to range between 14% to 16% and non-GAAP gross margin to range between 22% to 24%. These forecasted GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin improvements reflect continued efficiency improvements, launch average selling price improvement, and a modest improvement in mix within our Space Systems segment.

第二季度預測的 3 次發射之一是周日在新西蘭 LC1 成功完成的 NASA TROPICS 任務。如前所述，根據我們明確的發布積壓，我們繼續預計 2023 年將有 15 次發布，並且隨著我們在 2023 年剩餘時間內的進展，我們的平均售價將趨向於我們的標准定價。我們預計第二季度 GAAP 毛利率在 14% 之間% 至 16%，非 GAAP 毛利率在 22% 至 24% 之間。這些預測的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 毛利率改善反映了持續的效率改善、發射平均售價改善以及我們空間系統部門的組合適度改善。

We expect second quarter GAAP operating expenses to range between $55 million and $57 million, and non-GAAP operating expenses to range between $41 million and $43 million. The quarter-on-quarter increases are driven primarily by continued step-up in staff costs and prototyping and material spend supporting Neutron and Photon development programs. We expect second quarter GAAP and non-GAAP net interest expense to be $1 million. We expect second quarter adjusted EBITDA loss to range between $22 million and $24 million, and basic shares outstanding to be approximately 480 million shares.

我們預計第二季度 GAAP 運營費用將在 5500 萬美元至 5700 萬美元之間，非 GAAP 運營費用將在 4100 萬美元至 4300 萬美元之間。環比增長的主要原因是員工成本以及支持 Neutron 和 Photon 開發計劃的原型設計和材料支出的持續增加。我們預計第二季度 GAAP 和非 GAAP 淨利息支出為 100 萬美元。我們預計第二季度調整後的 EBITDA 虧損將在 2200 萬美元至 2400 萬美元之間，已發行基本股約為 4.8 億股。

And with that, we'll hand over the call to the operator for questions.

有了這個，我們將把電話轉給接線員詢問問題。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Erik Rasmussen.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Erik Rasmussen。

Yes. Congratulations on a good Q1. I wanted to talk about launch. It looked like there was a lot of positives in the quarter. And obviously, there is some washout, if you will, with some of the other smaller players that were obviously having challenges. You mentioned increase in the launch bookings given strong demand. What would be the limiting factor to maybe not achieving a higher launch cadence than the 15 that you're currently targeting?

是的。祝賀 Q1 取得好成績。我想談談發射。看起來本季度有很多積極因素。顯然，如果你願意的話，還有一些明顯面臨挑戰的其他小公司會被淘汰。您提到由於需求強勁而增加了啟動預訂。可能無法實現比您當前目標的 15 個更高的發布節奏的限制因素是什麼？

Yes, Erik, it will be customer readiness as usual. We continue to see customers moving around, and we're fully booked for the year, and that will be the determining factor. The factory continues to produce rockets to the rate that's required. Yes, and like I said, that's the usual factor.

是的，埃里克，這將像往常一樣為客戶做好準備。我們繼續看到客戶四處走動，我們今年的預訂已經滿了，這將是決定性因素。工廠繼續按照要求的速度生產火箭。是的，就像我說的，這是通常的因素。

Great. And maybe just staying with launch, your NSSL opportunity. Any updates that you can share on how things are progressing with the RFP process? And maybe how big of an opportunity could this be for Rocket Lab?

偉大的。也許只是停留在發布上，你的 NSSL 機會。您可以分享有關 RFP 流程進展情況的任何更新嗎？也許這對 Rocket Lab 來說是一個多大的機會？

Yes. We are naturally very happy with the approach that the NSSL folks have taken. The 2-line approach ensures a good balance of ensuring the nation has assured access to space through the 2 incumbents. But the additional Lane 1 gives us the opportunity to onboard and provide extra services. We're really happy with the overall constraints of the program. we're advocating to keep the bar high, which is what's happened. And the math class is clearly suited for Neutron. So we think Neutron is very well-positioned to play in that Lane 1 amongst a very small group of vehicles that will be ready in time to do so.

是的。我們自然對 NSSL 人員所採用的方法感到非常滿意。兩條線的方法確保了一個良好的平衡，即確保國家通過 2 個現任者確保進入太空。但是額外的 Lane 1 讓我們有機會加入並提供額外的服務。我們對該計劃的總體限制非常滿意。我們提倡保持高標準，這就是發生的事情。數學課顯然適合 Neutron。因此，我們認為 Neutron 處於非常有利的位置，可以在一小部分車輛中在 1 號車道上發揮作用，這些車輛將及時準備好這樣做。

Great. And then maybe just my last question. You talked and you introduced the HASTE rocket. How should we think about these in sort of the context of launch overall and what you've sort of guided for 2023 and the 15 total launches?

偉大的。然後也許只是我的最後一個問題。你談過並介紹了 HASTE 火箭。我們應該如何在整體發射的背景下考慮這些，以及您對 2023 年和 15 次發射的指導？

Yes. So the hypersonic flights will be included in that 15 number.

是的。所以高超音速飛行將包括在這 15 個數字中。

And your next question comes from the line of ROTH Capital.

您的下一個問題來自ROTH Capital。

Peter, Adam, it's Suji here. So congrats on the progress. So the 7-day turnaround you just had was pretty impressive. Just curious, generally, what are some of the proprietary elements that allow you to turn around that quickly. I know your competitors are having trouble just launching at all, but what allows you to kind of be able to turn around that quickly and what we use to further improve that?

彼得，亞當，我是蘇吉。所以祝賀你取得的進步。因此，您剛剛進行的 7 天周轉時間令人印象深刻。只是好奇，一般來說，有哪些專有元素可以讓您快速扭轉局面。我知道你的競爭對手在啟動時遇到了麻煩，但是是什麼讓你能夠快速扭轉局面，我們用什麼來進一步改進呢？

Yes. It's a good question, Suji. I mean the rocket is only 1/3 of the part of the equation here, having both the facilities in order to do that and also cross-trained teams that can do that, so we can support launch out of multiple different sites. And also having the rockets coming off the production line at a rate that enables that kind of launch frequency. So it's not trivial to do. It requires a lot of coordination and planning, but that's kind of where we've got to. We built a factory that was capable of a really high production cadence, and that's delivering. And the launch teams are very well tuned and honed now and the launch vehicle is very well bid in. So those are things that will enable us to achieve that.

是的。這是個好問題，蘇吉。我的意思是火箭只是這裡等式部分的 1/3，既有設施可以做到這一點，也有經過交叉訓練的團隊可以做到這一點，所以我們可以支持從多個不同的地點發射。並且還讓火箭以能夠實現這種發射頻率的速度從生產線下線。所以這不是一件容易的事。它需要大量的協調和計劃，但這正是我們必須要做的。我們建立了一個能夠以非常高的生產節奏進行生產的工廠，這就是交付。發射團隊現在經過了很好的調整和磨練，運載火箭的投標也很好。所以這些都是使我們能夠實現這一目標的事情。

Yes. Suji, I would add to that, too, that really Pete talked about the infrastructure. I mean, it really is a key piece. The fact that we have 2 operational launch locations. And one of those where it's in private control, right? We control the manifest entirely. So it gives us a tremendous amount of flexibility. I think it would probably be impossible to do this if you didn't own one of the two ranges, right? So I think that level of flexibility really allows us to do things that really nobody else really could do.

是的。 Suji，我還要補充一點，Pete 確實談到了基礎設施。我的意思是，它真的是一個關鍵部分。事實上，我們有 2 個運營發射地點。其中之一是私人控制，對吧？我們完全控制清單。所以它給了我們極大的靈活性。我認為如果您不擁有這兩個系列中的任何一個，就不可能做到這一點，對嗎？所以我認為這種靈活性水平確實讓我們能夠做其他人無法做到的事情。

Okay. Great. And then my other question is on Space Systems on the MDA Globalstar program, which I imagine would start ramping more aggressively in the second half and it's in calendar '24. Is that still timing unchanged? And when the initial revenue contribution there expected like?

好的。偉大的。然後我的另一個問題是關於 MDA Globalstar 計劃中的空間系統，我認為該計劃將在下半年開始更加積極地增加，並且在 24 年日曆中。那時間還是不變嗎？而最初的收入貢獻是什麼時候出現的呢？

Yes. So we'll start to see meaningful revenue contribution from that in Q3. So it will be a fairly significant step up in Q3 from Q2, and then continue on from that into Q4 and obviously into the first half of 2024. So yes, everything is on schedule, everything looks good, consistent with everything that we've kind of articulated in the past.

是的。因此，我們將在第三季度開始看到有意義的收入貢獻。因此，這將是第三季度從第二季度邁出的相當重要的一步，然後繼續進入第四季度，顯然進入 2024 年上半年。所以是的，一切都按計劃進行，一切看起來都很好，與我們所做的一切一致過去的一種表達方式。

Your next question comes from the line of Morgan Stanley.

你的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的專線。

Good afternoon, everyone. Following up on HASTE, right, looking at the payload for Electron, your previous guidance was for 15 launches for the full year, but that was with Electron about 300 kilograms per payload. So with having HASTE included and you now have some of these launches having 700 kilograms of payload, can you talk about the economics of it? Are they at the same total price? Or are you getting paid the same price per kilogram? How do we think about overall economics of Electron versus HASTE in terms of revenue and margins?

大家下午好。跟進 HASTE，看看 Electron 的有效載荷，你之前的指導是全年發射 15 次，但那是 Electron 每次有效載荷大約 300 公斤。因此，將 HASTE 包括在內後，您現在擁有 700 公斤有效載荷的這些發射中的一些，您能談談它的經濟性嗎？它們的總價相同嗎？或者你得到的每公斤價格是一樣的嗎？在收入和利潤方面，我們如何看待 Electron 與 HASTE 的整體經濟性？

Yes, sure. So I mean when someone comes to us, they buy the entire launch vehicle. When you buy a dedicated rocket, you buy the whole rocket. So it's not priced out as a cost per kilogram. In fact, the whole cost per kilogram metric is really only applicable to kind of rideshare missions where you may actually pay cost per kilogram. So whether it's an orbital mission or a suborbital mission, someone's coming to us and buying the complete launch vehicle. And the missions like HASTE that have an element of mission assurance, extra mission assurance and obviously, more complex trajectories, typically will demand a higher ASP than a very standard Electron orbital mission.

是的，當然。所以我的意思是當有人來找我們時，他們會購買整個運載火箭。當你購買專用火箭時，你購買了整個火箭。所以它沒有按每公斤成本定價。事實上，每公斤總成本指標實際上只適用於你可能實際支付每公斤成本的拼車任務。因此，無論是軌道任務還是亞軌道任務，都會有人來找我們購買完整的運載火箭。像 HASTE 這樣具有任務保證、額外任務保證和顯然更複雜軌蹟的任務，通常需要比非常標準的電子軌道任務更高的 ASP。

Yes. And Kristine, there's also a launch premium for launches out of LC2 in Virginia, because, again, that's a range that's operated by NASA versus our range in New Zealand. So there's a variety of things that drive -- right now, all of the hypersonics opportunities are going to be flying out of LC2. So for all the reasons Pete mentioned around mission assurance, but also kind of locational premium drives kind of an upward bias to the ASP.

是的。克里斯汀，在弗吉尼亞的 LC2 發射也有發射溢價，因為，再一次，這是一個由 NASA 運營的範圍，而不是我們在新西蘭的範圍。所以有各種各樣的東西在驅動——現在，所有的超音速機會都將飛出 LC2。因此，出於皮特圍繞任務保證提到的所有原因，但也有一種位置溢價推動了 ASP 的某種向上偏差。

I see. And in terms of margin economics between an Electron launch versus a HASTE launch, how do we differentiate between the two?

我懂了。就 Electron 發射與 HASTE 發射之間的利潤率經濟學而言，我們如何區分兩者？

Well, I mean, I would say probably the biggest difference would again be launching out of LC2, we pay range fees to NASA. But again, largely, those are kind of factored in. So from a margin contribution perspective, they should be kind of equal to kind of your ordinary kind of Rocket Lab launch.

好吧，我的意思是，我想說最大的不同可能會再次從 LC2 發射出去，我們向 NASA 支付靶場費。但同樣，在很大程度上，這些都被考慮在內了。因此，從利潤貢獻的角度來看，它們應該與普通的火箭實驗室發射相當。

I see. And then following up on the reuse or Rutherford engine in the third quarter. Do you have an idea of how quickly you can turn around these engines for re-flight down the line? And also, how many times can a single engine be used?

我懂了。然後在第三季度跟進重用或盧瑟福發動機。您是否知道可以多快地轉動這些引擎以重新飛行？還有，一個引擎可以使用多少次？

Yes, it's a great question. So answering your question kind of backwards, the qualification test we did on the recovered engines, and we've put a number of them through a total of 16 full duration hot fires, that's like going to orbit 16 times until no degradation in the performance or in the engine at all. So the Rutherford engine is a mighty nuggety engine with very good margins. So the kind of limit to reuse would be in excess of probably 10 times. But the caveat to that is, we need to slowly step our way through this. And we're being very conservative here. You notice that we've taken the most difficult and critical element and are reflying that kind of independently of a whole new stage first, because we believe once we build confidence in the reflown engines, then that's kind of the hardest piece of the whole puzzle complete.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。所以倒過來回答你的問題，我們對回收的發動機進行了資格測試，我們已經對其中的一些發動機進行了總共 16 次全持續高溫點火，這就像進入軌道 16 次，直到性能沒有下降或根本不在引擎中。因此，盧瑟福發動機是一款功能強大且利潤豐厚的發動機。因此，重用的次數可能會超過 10 次。但需要注意的是，我們需要慢慢地逐步解決這個問題。我們在這裡非常保守。您會注意到我們已經採用了最困難和最關鍵的元素，並且首先獨立於一個全新的階段進行那種重新飛行，因為我們相信一旦我們對重新飛行的引擎建立信心，那麼這就是整個難題中最難的部分完全的。

And your next question comes from the line of Andre Madrid.

你的下一個問題來自 Andre Madrid。

It's Andre. Could you just provide a little bit of color. So it looks like production headcount is down. Could you give a little reasoning as to why that happened?

是安德烈。你能不能提供一點顏色。所以看起來生產人數減少了。你能解釋一下為什麼會這樣嗎？

Yes. So again, I was trying to convey earlier that we've been fortunate that we've been able to repurpose our production resources to support the Neutron and Photon R&D initiatives. So it's really a case where we've gotten to be much more efficient building Electrons, that we have these resources. So rather than hire incremental R&D heads to support those programs, we can now just basically move or reclass those resources from production to support R&D. So that kind of just speaks to the kind of the fungibility and flexibility of the types of resources that we have, where, again, our production folks are equally capable performing very complex R&D tasks. And so it's super helpful for us to be able to have a really fungible workforce that we can kind of move around as need be. So that's really what's driving it. As I mentioned earlier, total headcount increased. It's just kind of the mix within changed quite a bit, as again, we kind of hit that new stride in production efficiency on Electron.

是的。因此，我之前試圖再次表達，我們很幸運能夠重新利用我們的生產資源來支持中子和光子研發計劃。因此，在我們擁有這些資源的情況下，我們確實可以更有效地構建 Electrons。因此，與其聘請增量研發負責人來支持這些項目，我們現在基本上可以將這些資源從生產中轉移或重新分類以支持研發。因此，這只是說明我們擁有的資源類型的可替代性和靈活性，我們的生產人員同樣有能力執行非常複雜的研發任務。因此，能夠擁有一支真正可替代的員工隊伍，我們可以根據需要四處流動，這對我們非常有幫助。所以這才是真正的驅動力。正如我之前提到的，總人數增加了。只是內部的組合發生了很大變化，同樣，我們在 Electron 的生產效率方面又邁出了新的一步。

Got you. Got you. Yes, that makes sense. And then I kind of want to touch on maybe just the -- if you could just quantify the order momentum at Space Systems and maybe give a little update on some of that low-margin SolAero backlog, where you guys are at burning that down?

明白了明白了是的，這是有道理的。然後我想談談也許只是 - 如果你能量化 Space Systems 的訂單勢頭，並可能對一些低利潤的 SolAero 積壓訂單進行一些更新，你們在哪裡燒掉它？

Yes. So on the Space Systems side, we are getting a lot of increased kind of high-value opportunities for not only on the component side, but also on the full spacecraft side of things. The way that we've constructed the Space Systems business is that we're not going after kind of small onesie-twosie opportunities. We're going after large chunky programs. Then when they do close, will be meaningful movers to overall backlog. So I would say that we continue to see momentum and kind of progress towards, but those deals are taking a little bit longer to close, I would say, than smaller deals, which kind of makes sense.

是的。因此，在空間系統方面，我們不僅在組件方面，而且在整個航天器方面都獲得了很多增加的高價值機會。我們構建空間系統業務的方式是，我們不會追求那種小的一二二事的機會。我們正在追求大塊的程序。然後當他們關閉時，將成為整體積壓的重要推動者。所以我想說我們繼續看到勢頭和某種進展，但我想說，這些交易比較小的交易需要更長的時間才能完成，這是有道理的。

And then when you look at the margin profile of SolAero business, I can tell you, Pete and I have been incredibly impressed with the way over the last couple of quarters all of the new business that we're closing and putting it into backlog is significantly higher gross margin than what came with the deal and acquisition and really kind of supports this transition to get the business to be north of a 30-point gross margin business.

然後，當您查看 SolAero 業務的利潤率概況時，我可以告訴您，Pete 和我對過去幾個季度中我們正在關閉並將其放入積壓的所有新業務的方式印象深刻毛利率明顯高於交易和收購帶來的毛利率，並且真正支持這種轉變，使業務達到 30 個百分點的毛利率業務。

We talked about this on a prior call, it's probably going to take us about a year longer than we originally anticipated to burn through that lower margin backlog and have it be replaced with all this new business that's being placed. And at the same time, too, there's a dynamic of fulfilling demand for internal programs. So we're obviously continuing to sell the solar solutions out to the merchant market at higher margins. But obviously, we're vertically integrated into our Photon build. So we have goodness there as well. I don't know, Pete, if you want to add anything there.

我們在之前的電話會議上談到了這一點，我們可能需要比我們原先預期多一年的時間來解決利潤率較低的積壓問題，並用所有這些新業務取代它。同時，也有滿足內部程序需求的動力。因此，我們顯然會繼續以更高的利潤向商業市場銷售太陽能解決方案。但顯然，我們垂直整合到我們的 Photon 構建中。所以我們也有善良。我不知道，Pete，你是否想在那裡添加任何內容。

Yes. Just as Adam mentioned, we've been very selective on which orders we take on. To Adam's point, we're not looking to do little things here and there. We're looking to pretty serious needle moving things. And naturally, they take longer to close than smaller things. And then I would say that we've been harping on for a while now that space solar is a constrained environment -- constrained supply. And you only need to look across all the spacecraft that are in development or manufacture right now, and it's fairly clear that a solar crunch has started to occur. And we're investing in more capacity, but obviously, solar constraint is helping to drive some of those margins.

是的。正如 Adam 提到的，我們在接受哪些訂單時非常有選擇性。就 Adam 的觀點而言，我們並不打算到處做小事。我們正在尋找非常嚴肅的針頭移動的東西。自然地，與較小的東西相比，它們需要更長的時間才能關閉。然後我要說的是，我們一直在喋喋不休地說太空太陽能是一個受限的環境——供應受限。你只需要看看現在正在開發或製造的所有航天器，很明顯太陽緊縮已經開始發生。我們正在投資更多的產能，但顯然，太陽能限制正在幫助推動其中的一些利潤率。

(Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from the line of Jason Gursky.

（操作員說明）您的下一個問題來自 Jason Gursky。

Peter, I wanted to give you an opportunity maybe to talk about the competitive landscape as you see it today and how things are evolving? And maybe talk about the next 4, 5 years and get a sense from you on how you see the competitive landscape shaking out here over the next several years? And kind of tied to that, and maybe, Adam, you can probably then here on this particular question, just kind of the pricing environment that you're seeing on the new orders and whether we're beginning to see some upward lift in the backlog that you're building relative to the backlog that you're chewing through.

彼得，我想給你一個機會，也許可以談談你今天看到的競爭格局，以及事情是如何演變的？也許談談未來 4、5 年，並從你那裡了解你如何看待未來幾年這裡的競爭格局？與此相關，也許，亞當，你可以在這個特定問題上，就是你在新訂單上看到的定價環境，以及我們是否開始看到價格上漲相對於您正在咀嚼的積壓工作，您正在構建的積壓工作。

Yes. Thanks, Jason. I'll get out my crystal ball here for you. But I would say, on small launch, I think my personal view is it's pretty tough to enter that market at this point. I mean, Electron has demonstrated just such great reliability and a good service that becomes harder and harder to break into that. Not being as arrogant as to think that nobody can't do that, but certainly, it will be difficult. So we've seen failure of a lot of small launch vehicles or a failure to deliver over the years and even more recently in more dramatic ways. So I think on the small launch side, it's a great market. It's a nice little niche market and Electron will probably continue to do well there. And I'm not sure if I really see too many small launch vehicles coming online in the future.

是的。謝謝，傑森。我會在這里為你拿出我的水晶球。但我要說的是，在小型發佈時，我個人認為此時進入該市場非常困難。我的意思是，Electron 已經展示瞭如此出色的可靠性和良好的服務，而要打破這一點變得越來越難。不會狂妄自大到認為沒有人不能做到，但可以肯定的是，這會很困難。因此，我們已經看到許多小型運載火箭的失敗，或者多年來甚至最近以更戲劇性的方式未能交付。所以我認為在小型發射方面，這是一個很大的市場。這是一個不錯的小眾市場，Electron 可能會繼續在那裡表現出色。而且我不確定未來是否真的會看到太多小型運載火箭上線。

Now on kind of the medium to large, I think that's a very different environment. And the fact that there's a launch crunch coming in sort of '25 to maybe up to '30 time frame. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. Like if you look at all of the spacecraft that are in development and are looking to manifest, you look at the likes of Kuiper, who bought up most of the launch available globally, kind of Ariane 6 delayed, and other launch vehicles delayed as well. That's going to be a really, really interesting time. And of course, our approach here and philosophy is to bring Neutron online right at the peak of that crunch. So we think that vehicle will do well.

現在從中型到大型，我認為這是一個非常不同的環境。事實上，在 25 年到 30 年的時間範圍內會出現發布緊縮。你不需要成為一名火箭科學家就能弄清楚這一點。就像如果你看看所有正在開發中並希望表現出來的航天器，你會看看 Kuiper 之類的東西，它購買了全球大部分可用的發射，有點像阿麗亞娜 6 號延遲，還有其他運載火箭也延遲了.那將是一段非常非常有趣的時光。當然，我們的方法和理念是在緊縮的高峰期讓 Neutron 在線。所以我們認為這輛車會做得很好。

If you look at things like the NSSLP Phase 3 program, Neutron is ideally situated to provide and play a good role in that. So I think in a new capital constrained environment where real kind of products and real businesses have to survive, I think there's going to be somewhat of a whittling of the wood, and really strong executors are going to be the ones that are left over to supply it. And then on the really heavy stuff, I think that's an interesting market. That's more of the creation of a market rather than the servicing of the market. So I think that will be super interesting over the next 4 to 5 years. So over to you, Adam.

如果您看一下 NSSLP 第 3 階段計劃之類的東西，Neutron 處於提供並在其中發揮良好作用的理想位置。因此，我認為在一個新的資本受限環境中，真正的產品和真正的企業必須生存，我認為木材會有所削減，真正強大的執行者將成為那些留給供應它。然後在真正重要的東西上，我認為這是一個有趣的市場。這更多的是市場的創造，而不是市場的服務。所以我認為這在未來 4 到 5 年內將非常有趣。所以交給你了，亞當。

Yes. Jason, with regards to pricing dynamics, I would say, certainly, things like you're seeing with missions being remanifested from other providers to us has been very supportive to pricing. I think it's going to continue to do so. I think, as Pete mentioned, there's just been a lack of execution on delivering payloads from others. So I think people have started to realize that this is a really difficult thing to do. Program delays are incredibly costly to customers. And so the ability to basically have a high degree of confidence that you're going to deliver their satellite on orbit on time, again, is something that we're seeing customers are willing to pay a premium for. So again, I think that's all very supportive towards launch pricing.

是的。傑森，關於定價動態，我想說的是，當然，你所看到的其他供應商重新向我們展示的任務對定價非常有幫助。我認為它將繼續這樣做。我認為，正如皮特提到的那樣，在從其他人那裡交付有效載荷方面缺乏執行力。所以我認為人們已經開始意識到這是一件非常困難的事情。計劃延誤對客戶來說代價高昂。因此，我們再次看到，客戶願意為此支付高價，從而能夠基本上高度確信您將按時將他們的衛星送入軌道。因此，我再次認為這對發布定價非常有幫助。

And then on the Space Systems side, we're starting to see some very significant benefits to kind of the end-to-end strategy that we've put in place. So unlike some other satellite manufacturers who have the issue of multiple levels and degrees of margin stacking, we really control so many of the key subsystems within our platforms that we can have -- we have a lot of different knobs that we can turn. And oftentimes, we do that in ways that kind of can deliver very good, very attractive margin profiles for the programs. And again, I don't think that would be doable without the level of vertical integration that we've pulled together here. So right now, I'm as optimistic on pricing for both launch and Space Systems as I've been. We just continue to see all the pieces move in the right direction. And I think we don't see any kind of change in trend on that front.

然後在空間系統方面，我們開始看到我們已經實施的端到端戰略帶來了一些非常顯著的好處。因此，與其他一些衛星製造商不同，他們存在多層次和多層次的邊緣堆疊問題，我們確實控制了我們平台內的許多關鍵子系統——我們有很多不同的旋鈕可以轉動。通常，我們這樣做的方式可以為項目提供非常好的、非常有吸引力的利潤率。再一次，我認為如果沒有我們在這里拉到一起的垂直整合水平，那將是不可行的。所以現在，我對發射和太空系統的定價一如既往地樂觀。我們只是繼續看到所有的部分都朝著正確的方向發展。而且我認為我們在這方面看不到任何趨勢變化。

Okay. Great. Okay if I stick in one more?

好的。偉大的。好吧，如果我再堅持一次？

Yes.

是的。

Yes. Okay. Great. So just going back to Globalstar, it sounds like the revenue ramp begins in the second half of the year. Can you maybe just talk a little bit about technical milestones, any risk retirement that you'll be working on either now or as you get going here, that we should all be kind of aware of and kind of appreciate as you retire that risk. And are there any risk to your expectations on margins for that program to the extent that the risk retirement doesn't go as planned?

是的。好的。偉大的。所以回到 Globalstar，聽起來收入增長始於今年下半年。你能不能談談技術里程碑，你現在或在你去這裡時將要處理的任何風險退休，當你退休時，我們都應該意識到並感激這種風險。如果風險退休沒有按計劃進行，您對該計劃的利潤率預期是否存在任何風險？

Well, I can talk briefly to the technical milestones. And I have to say that I'm just incredibly impressed with the team. It's a very difficult spacecraft. It operates in a very difficult environment. Of course, it needs incredible uptime. But the team continues to knock down major milestones like PDRs, and the supply chain team continues to work their magic to make sure everything that's not Rocket Lab produced is arriving on time. So I think we're all very happy with the way that project is coming together. We've got a big team working super hard to make sure it does. But certainly, on my horizon, there's nothing that I can foresee that's likely to cause issues. But I can let Adam talk to more of the less technical issues.

好吧，我可以簡單談談技術里程碑。我不得不說，我對這個團隊印象深刻。這是一個非常困難的航天器。它在非常困難的環境中運作。當然，它需要令人難以置信的正常運行時間。但該團隊繼續敲定 PDR 等重大里程碑，供應鏈團隊繼續發揮他們的魔力，以確保不是 Rocket Lab 生產的所有東西都按時到達。所以我認為我們都對該項目的整合方式感到非常滿意。我們有一個龐大的團隊非常努力地工作以確保它做到這一點。但可以肯定的是，在我看來，我可以預見沒有什麼可能會導致問題。但我可以讓 Adam 討論更多技術性較低的問題。

Yes. So on the margin profile, I would say that we were very aggressive early on in this program to get a lot of the long lead procured items in hand. So long lead purchase contracts that were done like a year or so ago. So we have very good visibility as to what the input costs are for the program for third-party source elements. And then obviously, we have a tremendous amount of vertical integration on this platform particularly, and we absolutely know kind of what our costs are there because we've been selling the same solutions for the large part into the merchant market for many years. So I would say that the margin risk on the program is actually quite low.

是的。因此，在利潤率方面，我想說我們在這個計劃的早期非常積極地獲得了很多長期採購的項目。大約一年前完成的長期採購合同。因此，對於第三方源元素的程序的輸入成本，我們有很好的可見性。然後很明顯，我們在這個平台上有大量的垂直整合，我們完全知道我們的成本是多少，因為我們多年來一直在向商業市場銷售大部分相同的解決方案。所以我想說該程序的保證金風險實際上很低。

There's always things that can come up and bite you on a program, whether it's a rocket or a satellite. But right now, as more time gets behind us and as we get much closer to actually starting to deliver these platforms, we're seeing a lot of the risk get retired and start to be in the rearview mirror. So yes, I think we feel pretty good about where we're at as far as, again, derisking the program from a margin perspective, and no huge technical obstacles have kind of surfaced that would cause kind of program delays either. So I think we're in good shape on both timeline and on margin.

總有一些事情會出現並咬你的程序，無論是火箭還是衛星。但是現在，隨著時間的流逝，隨著我們離真正開始交付這些平台越來越近，我們看到很多風險都被淘汰了，並開始出現在後視鏡中。所以，是的，我認為我們對我們所處的位置感到非常滿意，再次從利潤率的角度消除該計劃的風險，並且沒有出現會導致某種計劃延遲的巨大技術障礙。所以我認為我們在時間表和保證金方面都處於良好狀態。

And your final question comes from the line of Xin Yu.

最後一個問題來自新宇的台詞。

It's Edison Yu from Deutsche Bank. I think the name goofed a little bit. First question, I wanted to come back to the gross margin. I don't think you broke it out yet, but where do you see more upside relative to the expectations in the quarter? Was it more on a launch or Space Systems?

我是德意志銀行的 Edison Yu。我覺得這個名字有點搞砸了。第一個問題，我想回到毛利率。我認為你還沒有突破，但相對於本季度的預期，你在哪裡看到更多的上行空間？是更多關於發射還是太空系統？

Well, there was a bunch of things that were moving around. Obviously, we exceeding the former guidance on gross margin was again, really (technical difficulty) go into the quarter with as much, I would say, optimism on being able to kind of reposition the resources from production into R&D. So a lot of that came into focus at kind of a late stage as we were kind of in the quarter and we only managed to get a bunch of that realized. I would say, if you look at margin improvement, certainly, I think the biggest area for upside is going to be on the launch side of things. Because if you look at the fact right now, we're still dealing with the fact that we've got a cadence kind of dynamic that's driving overhead absorption.

好吧，有一堆東西在四處移動。顯然，我們再次超過了之前的毛利率指導，真的（技術困難）進入本季度，我想說，對能夠將資源從生產重新定位到研發的樂觀情緒。因此，當我們在本季度的時候，很多事情都是在後期才開始關注的，我們只設法實現了其中的一些。我會說，如果你看一下利潤率的提高，當然，我認為最大的上行領域將是在發布方面。因為如果你現在看看這個事實，我們仍然在處理這樣一個事實，即我們有一種節奏的動力正在推動開銷吸收。

So now we have 2 launch ranges that we have to kind of support. One we obviously own. So if you look at LC1 in New Zealand, it's a relatively high fixed cost, so very dependent upon cadence out of that site. And with the NASA range in Virginia, we have kind of variable costs that drive that, plus a little bit of fixed cost that go along with it. So it really -- really, again, our business on the launch side is very, very leveraged to the number of launches per quarter and even now increasingly, where those launches are coming at.

所以現在我們有 2 個發射範圍，我們必須提供支持。我們顯然擁有一個。因此，如果您查看新西蘭的 LC1，它的固定成本相對較高，因此非常依賴於該站點的節奏。對於弗吉尼亞州的 NASA 靶場，我們有一些可變成本來推動它，加上一些固定成本。所以它真的 - 真的，再次，我們在發射方面的業務非常非常依賴於每季度的發射數量，甚至現在越來越多，這些發射的位置。

So theoretically, like in Q1, where you had -- 2 of our 3 launches came out of Virginia, I think that left a lot of unallocated cost to be absorbed over the one mission that did come out of LC1 in New Zealand. Now in Q2, the mix is going to be different where the launches are coming out of. You'll have 2 out of LC, 1 in New Zealand, 1 out of LC2. So you'll be able to absorb more of those fixed costs over the 2 launches coming out of New Zealand, and you'll have one variable cost intensive mission coming out of Wallops.

所以從理論上講，就像在第一季度一樣，我們的 3 次發射中有 2 次是從弗吉尼亞發射的，我認為這留下了很多未分配的成本來吸收新西蘭 LC1 發射的一次任務。現在在第二季度，發布的產品組合將有所不同。您將有 2 個 LC，1 個在新西蘭，1 個 LC2。因此，在從新西蘭發射的 2 次發射中，您將能夠吸收更多這些固定成本，並且您將擁有一個來自 Wallops 的可變成本密集型任務。

So I really do think as we scale to the 15 launches this year, and as we've talked in the past, shooting for 20 launches next year with 6 in the fourth quarter, kind of establishing that exit rate out of 2024 to get to our target model for margin, cadence is an overwhelming driver of getting to those margin targets. And again, there's a tremendous amount of room to go from where we're at right now to where we're going to get to.

所以我真的認為，隨著我們今年擴大到 15 次發射，正如我們過去所說的那樣，明年計劃發射 20 次，第四季度發射 6 次，確定 2024 年的退出率以達到我們的利潤率目標模型，節奏是實現這些利潤率目標的壓倒性驅動力。再一次，從我們現在所處的位置到我們將要到達的位置，還有很大的空間可以去。

And then the other piece, of course, is recovery of the first stage booster. So Pete mentioned the progress that we've been making on that, particularly with the engine that's going to fly a little bit later this year. But Space Systems is -- it's got -- there are pockets of that business that have very nice gross margins. There's others like we've talked about in the past that suffer from a little bit lower gross margins that are kind of being upgraded as we churn through that lower kind of historical backlog. But really, if you look at where the biggest increase can come from, it really can come from Electron scaling through the cadence and recovery.

然後另一部分，當然是第一級助推器的回收。所以皮特提到了我們在這方面取得的進展，特別是今年晚些時候將要試飛的引擎。但 Space Systems 是 - 它有 - 該業務的某些部分具有非常好的毛利率。還有其他像我們過去談到的那樣，毛利率略低，隨著我們處理這種較低的歷史積壓，毛利率正在升級。但實際上，如果你看看最大的增長來自哪裡，它真的可以來自電子通過節奏和恢復的縮放。

Appreciate the color. And just one follow-up on, I guess, Space Systems more specifically. I know it outperformed in the quarter. Any specific product lines you would call out? And I think also you announced a new win on SolAero. So just curious kind of the trajectory going forward. Is there some product that's sort of outperforming?

欣賞顏色。我猜只是關於空間系統的後續行動，更具體地說。我知道它在本季度表現出色。您會提到任何特定的產品線嗎？我想你也宣布了 SolAero 的新勝利。所以只是對前進的軌跡感到好奇。是否有某種產品表現出色？

Yes. So I mean the big grower really from a percentage perspective has really been the Photon business, right? So the satellite manufacturing piece. And so as Pete mentioned earlier, we were able to ship the first Varda Spacecraft. And really, it's Q3, where you're going to start to see a very meaningful uptick in revenue recognition on the MDA Globalstar satellites. So that is by far going to be kind of the biggest kind of percentage grower in the second half of the year, again, from programs that we've identified previously.

是的。所以我的意思是，從百分比的角度來看，最大的增長者確實是 Photon 業務，對吧？所以衛星製造片。因此，正如皮特之前提到的，我們能夠發射第一艘瓦爾達航天器。實際上，現在是第三季度，您將開始看到 MDA Globalstar 衛星的收入確認出現非常有意義的增長。因此，從我們之前確定的計劃來看，這將是今年下半年最大的增長百分比。

And you do have a final question from the line of Andre Madrid.

最後一個問題來自 Andre Madrid。

Yes. Okay. Yes. Just one more to follow up. Given that you guys are pretty certain of the manifest going through 2023, I mean, when can we start to see some more long-term targets being outlined?

是的。好的。是的。還有一個要跟進。鑑於你們非常確定 2023 年的清單，我的意思是，我們什麼時候可以開始看到一些更長期的目標被概述？

Well, I think on the manifest, we've been pretty clear this year, growing to 15 launches. Next year, we've set a target for 20, but exiting the year at a rate of 24. And that's very consistent with the long-term model that we've had. We think there's enough market opportunity to drive up to -- in our model, we had over 30 launches per year. And that remains pretty consistent. And that's, of course, separate and distinct from Neutrons opportunity.

好吧，我認為從清單上看，我們今年已經很清楚了，發射次數增加到 15 次。明年，我們設定了 20 個目標，但以 24 個的速度退出今年。這與我們擁有的長期模型非常一致。我們認為有足夠的市場機會可以推動——在我們的模型中，我們每年有超過 30 次發布。這仍然非常一致。當然，這與 Neutrons 的機會是分開的。

But I think that, again, there's I would say nothing that's kind of caused us to revisit what the kind of volume opportunity is for Electron. The small dedicated launch market continues to be pretty strong. We continue to be outperforming relative to our peer group. So yes, I don't think we're going to give kind of longer-term kind of outlook for launches beyond kind of what we've already articulated, which I think is pretty far out. We're basically telling you kind of what you're going to expect for launches through the end of next year.

但我認為，我不會說什麼讓我們重新審視 Electron 的機會。小型專用發射市場仍然非常強勁。我們的表現繼續優於同行。所以是的，我認為我們不會給出超出我們已經闡明的範圍的更長期的發射前景，我認為這還很遙遠。我們基本上是在告訴您您對明年年底發布的產品的期望。

Once we get at 2025, it's kind of anybody's guess at this point. We do have some bookings and some visibility, obviously, into '25, in some cases, even longer than that. But we're also -- we've kind of recognized the pattern here where we've got great visibility within 12 months. Once you get outside of 12 months, it starts to get a little bit more kind of unclear. We kind of track what all the opportunities are out there. And then it just becomes a question of what percentage capture do we have in the market or what our market share is going to be.

一旦我們到了 2025 年，此時任何人都在猜測。我們確實有一些預訂和一些可見性，顯然，到 25 年，在某些情況下，甚至比這更長。但我們也——我們已經認識到這裡的模式，我們在 12 個月內獲得了很好的知名度。一旦超過 12 個月，它就會開始變得有點不清楚。我們有點跟踪那裡所有的機會。然後就變成了我們在市場上佔有多少百分比或我們的市場份額將是多少的問題。

And obviously, right now, we have a tremendously high market share. We believe that we'll be able to maintain pretty high market share. But I would say, again, we're on track to 15 this year, 20 next year, exiting at a rate of 24, and then we'll see where it goes from there.

顯然，現在，我們擁有非常高的市場份額。我們相信我們將能夠保持相當高的市場份額。但我要說的是，今年我們有望達到 15 個，明年達到 20 個，以 24 個的速度退出，然後我們將看到它從那裡走向何方。

And there are no other questions at this time.

目前沒有其他問題。

Okay. Well, that wraps up today's presentation there, and thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call. Adam and I will be speaking of these up and coming conferences and look forward to the opportunity to share more exciting news and updates with you then. Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing you and speaking to you about the exciting progress being made at Rocket lab.

好的。好吧，今天的演講到此結束，感謝大家加入我們的電話會議。亞當和我將談到這些即將召開的會議，並期待屆時有機會與您分享更多令人興奮的消息和更新。再次感謝，我們期待見到您並與您談談 Rocket 實驗室正在取得的激動人心的進展。

This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

這確實結束了今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開連接。