Rocket Lab USA Inc (RKLB) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Eric, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Rocket Lab Q3, 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Thank you.

謝謝你的支持。我叫艾瑞克，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時此刻，我歡迎大家參加 Rocket Lab 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明） 演講者發言後，將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）謝謝。

I would now like to turn the call over to Colin Canfield, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將電話轉給投資人關係主管 Colin Canfield。請繼續。

Thank you, Eric. Hello, everyone. We're glad to have you join us for today's conference call to discuss Rocket Lab's third quarter 2023 financial results.

謝謝你，埃里克。大家好。我們很高興您參加今天的電話會議，討論 Rocket Lab 2023 年第三季的財務表現。

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 the liability established by Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. 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.

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，這些陳述旨在獲得安全港保護，免受私人建立的責任的影響。證券訴訟改革法。任何此類聲明都不能保證未來業績，今天的新聞稿中強調了可能影響我們業績的因素，其他內容包含在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中。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。

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. Included in our press release and our supplemental materials are reconciliations of these historical non-GAAP financial measures for the company's comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. This call is also being webcast with the supporting presentation and a replay and copy of the presentation will be available on our website.

除法律要求外，本公司不承擔任何更新這些聲明的義務。我們今天的言論和新聞稿還包含 SEC 頒布的 G 條例含義內的非 GAAP 財務措施。我們的新聞稿和補充資料中包括這些歷史非公認會計原則財務指標與根據公認會計原則計算的公司可比較財務指標的調節表。此次電話會議還將透過支援演示進行網路直播，並且我們的網站上將提供演示的重播和副本。

Our presenters today are Rocket Lab's Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Beck; and Chief Financial Officer, Adam Spice. After our prepared comments, we will take questions.

今天我們的主講人是 Rocket Lab 的創辦人兼執行長 Peter Beck；和財務長亞當·斯派斯。在我們準備好意見後，我們將回答問題。

And now, let me turn the call over to Mr. Beck.

現在，讓我把電話轉給貝克先生。

Thanks, Colin, and welcome, everybody, for joining us. Today's presentation, we will go over our key business accomplishments for the third quarter of 2023, as well as further achievements we've made since the end of the quarter. Adam will then talk through our financial results for the third quarter before covering the financial outlook for Q4, 2023. After that, we'll take questions and finish today's call with the near-term conferences we'll be attending.

謝謝科林，歡迎大家加入我們。在今天的演講中，我們將回顧 2023 年第三季的主要業務成就，以及自本季末以來我們所取得的進一步成就。然後，Adam 將討論我們第三季的財務業績，然後介紹 2023 年第四季的財務前景。之後，我們將回答問題並以我們將參加的近期會議結束今天的電話會議。

All right, on to what we achieved in the third quarter for the year. Starting with Electron. In July, we launched a mission with [7] satellites with NASA and others, which was the first of 2 back-to-back reusability-focused missions. After successfully deploying the first Mission 7 spacecraft, Electron's first stage was bought back to earth and recovered from the ocean. Then we followed that up with our 40th Electron launch and even more recovery milestones, including the return first stage and the first to launch a reflowing Rutherford engine previously flown on our 26th mission there and back again. The engine performed flawlessly, like a new one, completely validating our pursuit of reusability for Electron and setting us up well to refly an entire engine set as our next major reusability goal.

好吧，讓我們來談談今年第三季的成就。從電子開始。 7 月份，我們與 NASA 和其他機構一起發射了一項使用 [7] 顆衛星的任務，這是 2 個連續的以可重複使用性為重點的任務中的第一個。在成功部署第一艘 Mission 7 太空船後，Electron 的第一級被買回地球並從海洋中回收。然後我們又進行了第 40 次 Electron 發射以及更多的回收里程碑，包括返回第一級和第一個發射回流盧瑟福發動機，此前我們在第 26 次任務中曾在那裡和返回。這款引擎的性能完美無瑕，就像一個新引擎一樣，完全驗證了我們對 Electron 可重用性的追求，並為我們將整個引擎集作為我們下一個主要可重用性目標做好了準備。

So next, I'll provide a bit of an update for Electron. Following those 2 successful flights, as you know, we unfortunately experienced an anomaly on our 41st mission. It's important to remember that up until this launch, we have had 37 successful orbital missions to place 171 satellites in orbit. And the past 2 years have been flawless with a record of 20 successful missions one after the other. For Flight 41, as soon as the issue occurred, our team jumped into action in the week since the team has been scaring through thousands of channels of flight data and manufacturing data to determine what was the probable root cause. I'll take you through their investigation in detail over the next couple of slides.

接下來，我將為 Electron 提供一些更新。如你所知，繼這 2 次成功飛行之後，我們在第 41 次任務中不幸遇到了異常情況。重要的是要記住，直到這次發射為止，我們已經成功進行了 37 次軌道任務，將 171 顆衛星送入軌道。在過去的兩年裡，我們連續完成了 20 次成功的任務。對於 41 號航班，問題發生後，我們的團隊在一周內立即採取行動，因為該團隊一直在透過數千個管道的飛行數據和製造數據進行恐慌，以確定可能的根本原因。我將在接下來的幾張投影片中向您詳細介紹他們的調查。

Working in parallel with the FAA, the FAA has conducted its own review of the mission safety processes, plans and procedures, which concluded that they all worked as they should to keep the public safe and I am pleased to confirm that the FAA has since given us approval to resume launching from Launch Complex 1. With our investigation in its final stages and our launch license remaining active, we are fully anticipating to return to flight within the next few weeks. Following updates and changes to our testing and manufacturing process, we'll be returning to the pad with an even more reliable vehicle to meet our busy launch manifest for the remainder of '23 and into '24.

美國聯邦航空局與美國聯邦航空局並行工作，對任務安全流程、計劃和程序進行了自己的審查，得出的結論是，它們都按照應有的方式工作，以確保公眾安全，我很高興地確認，美國聯邦航空局此後已給予我們批准從 1 號發射場恢復發射。隨著我們的調查已進入最後階段並且我們的發射許可證仍然有效，我們完全期待在未來幾週內恢復飛行。在對我們的測試和製造流程進行更新和更改後，我們將帶著更可靠的車輛返回發射台，以滿足我們在 23 年剩餘時間和 24 年繁忙的發射清單。

Now, let me take you through what happened and what we've learned. So, here's a slide on the anomaly time line. The anomaly that ended the mission happened incredibly quickly. From the first action in the chain of events when Electron cut off its data relay, the team only had 1.6 seconds of a nominally flight data to work with. This was always going to be a highly complex issue to figure out, but with deep diligence and analysis, here's what we've been able to determine.

現在，讓我向您介紹一下發生的事情以及我們學到的東西。這是異常時間軸的幻燈片。結束任務的異常發生得非常快。從 Electron 切斷其資料中繼的事件鏈中的第一個動作開始，該團隊只有 1.6 秒的名義上的飛行資料可以使用。這始終是一個需要解決的高度複雜的問題，但透過深入的調查和分析，我們已經能夠確定以下內容。

On a 41st mission launched September 19 from LC1, it completed all the usual launch milestones through lift-off, next queue, stage separations. And at 151 seconds, the second stage engine tried to ignite, which is confirmed by flight telemetry that showed the igniter pressures building and the locks and kerosene pump speed rising to pump propellents into the combustion chamber. The voltage levels from the battery packs that power the engine and the motor controllers are nominal at this point and normal at that point of ignition, but within milliseconds, in fact, 151.7 seconds, we get our first indication of the anomaly. The system's high-level voltage levels take a sudden dip and rise of about 100 volts within 30 milliseconds, indicating an energy escape from the system that then led to a full loss of power to the second stage lower avionics cutting off telemetry and communication with the second stage. And with that, it was all over.

在 9 月 19 日從 LC1 發射的第 41 次任務中，它完成了所有通常的發射里程碑，包括升空、下一個隊列、階段分離。 151 秒時，第二級發動機試圖點火，飛行遙測證實了這一點，該遙測顯示點火器壓力不斷增大，鎖和煤油泵速度上升，將推進劑泵入燃燒室。為引擎和馬達控制器供電的電池組的電壓水平在此時是標稱的，並且在點火點時是正常的，但在幾毫秒內，實際上是151.7 秒，我們得到了第一個異常指示。系統的高電平電壓在 30 毫秒內突然下降和上升約 100 伏特，表明系統有能量逸出，導致第二級下部航空電子設備完全斷電，切斷了與飛機的遙測和通信。第二階段。就這樣，一切都結束了。

So, move on to the issues. So, you have to bear with me on this, there's a little bit to talk about here. But with good visual evidence with the onboarded cameras and over 12,000 channels of data and this high-level time line to draw from the investigation narrowed in on the issue. More than 200 sub- investigations were launched to rule out hypothetical causes of the anomaly. After more than 7 weeks of extensive analysis of the mission's manufacturing test and flight data, the findings of the Rocket Lab investigation team overwhelmingly indicate an unexpected electrical arc occurred within the power system.

那麼，繼續討論問題。所以，你必須容忍我，這裡有一些話要說。但憑藉機載攝影機提供的良好視覺證據和超過 12,000 個數據通道，以及從調查中得出的這一高級時間線，縮小了問題範圍。開展了 200 多項子調查，以排除異常原因的假設。經過 7 週以上的任務製造測試和飛行數據的廣泛分析，火箭實驗室調查小組的調查結果表明，電力系統內出現了意外的電弧。

Shown in the image on the top right, the team did some tricky optical triangulation and image processing of a small shadow on the engine bowel caused by the arc. From that, they are able to pinpoint and retriangulate the failures point's origin to an area where the 2 battery packs connect known as the fixed pack to supply the high-voltage power. So, now we're all going to take a little lesson in Paschen law and Paschen curves. So, Paschen law describes how in partial pressure environments, the likelihood of an arc to occur changes in high-voltage systems depending on the environmental composition.

如右上圖所示，團隊對引擎內部由電弧造成的小陰影進行了一些棘手的光學三角測量和影像處理。由此，他們能夠找出故障點的起源並重新三角測量到兩個電池組連接的區域（稱為固定組）以提供高壓電源。所以，現在我們要來學習帕邢定律和帕邢曲線。因此，帕邢定律描述了在分壓環境中，高壓系統中發生電弧的可能性如何根據環境組成而變化。

An approximate guide can then be applied across different situations called the Paschen curve, which uses the relationship between voltage, pressure multiplied by distance to indicate what the range of danger is for an arc to form through various gases like helium, argon, nitrogen, et cetera. So, the graph on the bottom right is what's known as a highly simplified Paschen curve. So basically, the easiest way to think about this is if you have a positive and a negative terminal of a battery at 500-volts down here on earth, you could place those 2 terminals of the battery about 0.03 millimeters or 1/3 of the thickness of a human hair beside each other and they would not create an arc or jump a spark between them.

然後可以在不同的情況下應用近似指南，稱為帕邢曲線，它使用電壓、壓力乘以距離之間的關係來指示通過氦氣、氬氣、氮氣等各種氣體形成電弧的危險範圍。等等。因此，右下角的圖表就是所謂的高度簡化的帕邢曲線。所以基本上，考慮這個問題的最簡單方法是，如果地球上有一個 500 伏特電壓的電池的正極和負極端子，您可以將電池的這兩個端子放置在大約 0.03 毫米或 1/3 的位置。彼此相鄰的厚度只有人類頭髮的厚度，它們之間不會產生弧線或跳出火花。

Now, take the same 500-volt battery in terminals and put them in the worst part of the Paschen curve, which just happens to be just after stage separation and Stage 2 ignition of Electron. And the same 500-volt battery and terminals will now arc to each other when they are nearly 1 meter apart. So different gases, different pressures affect the distance. And there's also other things like AC ripple that can have a huge negative fix. But for now, let's just keep it simple. For Electron with its high-voltage 500-volt power supply, we have to ensure that every connection is essentially [thematically] sealed.

現在，將相同的 500 伏特電池放在端子中，並將它們放在帕邢曲線最差的部分，這恰好是在 Electron 的階段分離和階段 2 點火之後。現在，當相同的 500 伏特電池和端子相距近 1 公尺時，它們會相互產生電弧。所以不同的氣體、不同的壓力會影響距離。還有其他一些問題，例如交流紋波，可能會產生巨大的負面影響。但現在，讓我們保持簡單。對於具有 500 伏特高壓電源的 Electron，我們必須確保每個連接基本上都是[主題]密封的。

A tiny pinprick or insulation failure, will result in arcs given that they can travel over large distances in the Paschen curve. All of this is in flux and very transient because as we assumed higher during the second stage burn and go into the hard vacuum of space, the arcing distance goes back the other way, and it becomes hard to arc again. It's really just at stage separation where things are the worst and we bottom out the Paschen curve. As you can imagine, this is extremely difficult to test for down on Earth. We actually, currently put the whole rear engine CVM in a vacuum chamber, pull it down and inject gases like argon to try and aggravate the phenomenon. But even the smallest installation compromise cannot always be detected, especially when you compile that with other factors like AC ripple and trace gases.

微小的針刺或絕緣故障都會導致電弧，因為它們可以在帕邢曲線上傳播很長的距離。所有這些都在不斷變化並且非常短暫，因為當我們假設在第二階段燃燒期間更高並進入太空的硬真空時，飛弧距離會以相反的方式返回，並且變得很難再次飛弧。實際上，正是在階段分離時，情況最糟糕，我們觸底了帕邢曲線。正如你可以想像的那樣，這在地球上進行測試是極其困難的。實際上，目前我們將整個後置引擎 CVM 放入真空室中，將其拉下來並注入氬氣等氣體，試圖加劇這種現象。但即使是最小的安裝妥協也無法總是被檢測到，特別是當您將其與交流紋波和微量氣體等其他因素一起編譯時。

So, now that everybody understands Paschen curves. During the second stage ignition, we're at the worst part of the curve and we had a small concentration of helium in the vicinity of the [open] stage, which is normal, and a high-voltage AC ripple that lowers the spark threshold even lower and a tiny undetectable fault in the HV move insulation, all of which combined allowed for an arc to briefly occur. If any of these things were not present, then the failure would not have occurred. All 4 had to be there. And to be honest, with all the testing we do before flight, you would also have to be incredibly unlucky to have the insulation failure point also line up with an electrical path to be able to arc the chassis.

現在大家都了解帕邢曲線了。在第二階段點火期間，我們處於曲線的最差部分，並且在[開路]階段附近有少量氦氣濃度，這是正常的，並且高壓交流紋波降低了火花閾值高壓移動絕緣體中甚至出現了更低且無法檢測到的微小故障，所有這些故障結合起來導致了電弧的短暫出現。如果這些東西中的任何一個不存在，那麼故障就不會發生。所有 4 個人都必須在那裡。說實話，透過我們在飛行前所做的所有測試，如果絕緣故障點也與能夠使底盤產生電弧的電氣路徑對齊，您也必須非常不幸。

And look, I don't generally believe in luck as an engineer, but this -- but in this instance, I would say that so many things had to line up that most people would say that this probability of this occurring would be largely improbable. So with that, now that we kind of understand and we've explained the failure, what are we going to do to get back to flight. So, the failure is obviously a highly complete set of conditions that are extremely difficult to predict. Our team's top priority through the investigation has been to find a way to make sure that this never happens again. And as a result, there's a couple of key corrective measures.

聽著，作為一名工程師，我通常不相信運氣，但是在這種情況下，我想說，很多事情必須排列在一起，以至於大多數人會說這種情況發生的可能性在很大程度上是不可能的。因此，現在我們已經了解並解釋了失敗的原因，我們要做什麼才能恢復飛行。因此，故障顯然是一組極難預測的高度完整的條件。我們團隊在調查過程中的首要任務是找到一種方法來確保這種情況不會再發生。因此，有一些關鍵的糾正措施。

The first is to increase the fidelity of the stage level vacuum testing. We now have a much more sensitive instruments implemented in the pre-flight tests both at the component level and the stage level that consents partial discharge all the way down to a (inaudible). This gives us much more confidence in the testing. However, I was not happy to stop there. And so we've implemented a rather brute-force solution. What we've done is seal up the battery frame that contains all the high-voltage connections and equipment and then pressurize it to about 0.5 of PSI.

首先是提高級真空測試的保真度。現在，我們在組件級和級級的飛行前測試中採用了更靈敏的儀器，允許局部放電一直降至（聽不清楚）。這讓我們對測驗更有信心。然而，我並不樂意就此止步。因此我們實施了一個相當暴力的解決方案。我們所做的就是密封包含所有高壓連接和設備的電池框架，然後將其加壓至約 0.5 PSI。

I'll draw your attention to the graph on the top right, surprise, surprise, it's another Paschen curve that shows that by pressurizing the high-voltage area, we shift the Paschen curve to the left out of the red zone and into the green zone, meaning, basically, we're back to what it's like on Earth where it's not really possible for big arc distances to occur. Now this has been a lot of work to implement by the team and as a fairly extreme solution. But really, I thought it was the only way we could put the Paschen law well back in its box. So, the best way to solve a problem, in my opinion, is always to eliminate the problem and that's what we've done.

我會讓你注意右上角的圖表，驚訝，驚訝，這是另一條帕邢曲線，它表明通過對高壓區域加壓，我們將帕邢曲線向左移出紅色區域並進入綠色區域區域，基本上意味著我們回到了地球上的情況，在那裡不可能出現大弧距。現在，團隊需要做大量的工作來實現這一點，而且這是一個相當極端的解決方案。但實際上，我認為這是我們能夠將帕邢定律放回原處的唯一方法。因此，在我看來，解決問題的最佳方法始終是消除問題，而這就是我們所做的。

Getting to the bottom of the issue and back to the pad for our customers has been the team's #1 priority. It's been incredible to witness their perseverance dedication over these past few weeks, not only on the anomaly investigation, but in the work that they've completed in parallel to make sure that we're good to go as soon as we get back to the pad. The launch window for a return to flight mission will open on November 28 and extend into December. This dedicated mission will be for iQPS, a Japanese-based Earth imaging company with the rocket for that mission going through prelaunch testing on the pad at Launch Complex right now.

找出問題的根源並為我們的客戶返回墊子一直是團隊的第一要務。見證他們在過去幾週內堅持不懈的奉獻精神真是令人難以置信，不僅是在異常調查方面，而且是在他們同時完成的工作中，以確保我們一回到基地就可以出發。軟墊。返回飛行任務的發射窗口將於 11 月 28 日開放並延長至 12 月。這項專門任務將由日本地球成像公司 iQPS 執行，執行該任務的火箭目前正在發射中心的發射台上進行發射前測試。

So, move on to Electron launch manifest. So in 2024, we have a really big year ahead of us. Even with our pause in operations, Electron remains the world's most frequently launched small orbital rocket. Dedicated missions for small satellites continue to experience strong demand, which we've seen in multiple bulk buys by returning customers and constellation operators. In fact, we've booked out Electron launches next year, completely blocked. We see the market for the Electron product being very strong and this manifests validates that. Frequent launch opportunities, flexibility over schedule and control over orbiter deployment are what our customers are looking for and that's what Electron has been providing and will continue to provide in the New Year.

因此，請繼續查看 Electron 啟動清單。因此，2024 年，我們將迎來非常重要的一年。即使我們暫停運行，Electron 仍然是世界上發射頻率最高的小型軌道火箭。小型衛星的專用任務繼續面臨強勁的需求，我們在回頭客和星座運營商的多次批量購買中看到了這一點。事實上，我們已經預訂了明年 Electron 的發布，但完全被阻止了。我們看到 Electron 產品的市場非常強勁，證明了這一點。頻繁的發射機會、時間表的靈活性以及對軌道飛行器部署的控制是我們的客戶所尋求的，這也是 Electron 一直提供並將在新的一年中繼續提供的。

And all that, all we have to do really in -- with our 2024 manifest is execute as and with -- within living in the space industry. By ramping Electron production and keeping on top of demand with recent acquisitions as well as continuous improvement in automation across our manufacturing processes, we look to continue improving on our already impressive performance in manufacturing. We also note that the scaling is coming with improved gross margins. In Q3 2023, we achieved a 27% GAAP launch gross margin, which should look to enable to progress our profitability targets for Electron as we drive scale and efficiency into the business.

所有這一切，我們真正要做的就是——我們的 2024 年清單是在航太產業的生活中執行的。透過提高 Electron 產量、透過最近的收購滿足需求以及不斷改進整個製造流程的自動化，我們希望繼續改進我們已經令人印象深刻的製造績效。我們也注意到，規模擴張伴隨著毛利率的增加。 2023 年第三季度，我們實現了 27% 的 GAAP 發布毛利率，隨著我們推動業務規模和效率，這應該有助於實現 Electron 的獲利目標。

I now want to take you through and highlight some of the accomplishments in -- so far in Q4. So, Neutron structures. We'll start with a Neutron update. Earlier this quarter, we reached a major milestone and had a frosty second stage tank up on the stand structural and cryogenic testing, which is really a key marker for our Neutron program development and invent program. The team's job was to push the tank to its absolute limits by loading it up with cryogenic fluids and test to destruction. Something like 96,000 liters of liquid nitrogen was used for this test campaign and an exploded tank in this instance is very much a good thing and what we wanted to achieve.

現在，我想向您介紹並強調迄今為止第四季度取得的一些成就。所以，中子結構。我們將從 Neutron 更新開始。本季度早些時候，我們達到了一個重要的里程碑，並在展位上進行了結霜的第二級儲罐的結構和低溫測試，這確實是我們中子項目開發和發明項目的關鍵標誌。該團隊的工作是透過向儲罐裝載低溫液體並進行破壞測試，將儲罐推至其絕對極限。這次測試活動使用了大約 96,000 公升液態氮，在這種情況下，罐體爆炸是一件好事，也是我們想要實現的目標。

The team to the tank passed MEOP or Maximum Expected Operation Pressure at more than 7x atmospheric pressure. What they've learned in the campaign has been applied to the next stage to tank and currently under production, really to bake in structural reliability early as we get closer to our date with the launch pad. Speaking of baking, this is quite literally what our carbon composites team has been up to with our next full scale Neutron structures and components. The images on this slide here show you the scale of some of the tank devices being produced, more than 7 feet in diameter for those secular propellent management devices and the Stage 2 dome being eliminated in the bottom section, whilst the Neutron fixed bearing sections are coming together nicely. And of course, we have another second stage Neutron tank being built for our next test tank -- to go on our next test tank in the first half of '24.

儲罐團隊在超過 7 倍大氣壓力的情況下通過了 MEOP（最大預期操作壓力）。他們在這次活動中學到的知識已應用於坦克的下一階段，目前正在生產中，真正是為了在我們接近發射台的日期時儘早提高結構可靠性。說到烘焙，這實際上就是我們的碳複合材料團隊在我們的下一個全尺寸中子結構和組件中所做的事情。這張投影片上的圖像向您展示了一些正在生產的儲罐設備的規模，這些長期推進劑管理設備的直徑超過7 英尺，並且底部的第2 階段圓頂被取消，而中子固定軸承部分則被取消。很好地結合在一起。當然，我們正在為我們的下一個測試坦克建造另一個第二級中子坦克 - 將在 24 年上半年用於我們的下一個測試坦克。

And then over to Neutron Archimedes engine. Another test we're celebrating was a critical combustion test that the team achieved with Neutron's Archimedes engine. There's plenty of benefits to pursuing methane and LOX propellants, but it does come with some of its own challenges. The critical piece really and one of the challenges was in using methane and liquid oxygen for Archimedes is getting the pre-burner dialed in. Where generally you want a fuel mix ratio in a chamber of something like 3:1 oxygen fuel, we're running an oxygen-rich pre-burner cycle on Archimedes that forces us to flow all of our oxygen through the combustion device. Therefore, our ideal mix is something between [100:1], which is a challenging thing to achieve without all the excess oxygen extinguished and combustion.

然後轉到中子阿基米德引擎。我們慶祝的另一項測試是團隊使用 Neutron 的阿基米德引擎實現的關鍵燃燒測試。使用甲烷和液態氧推進劑有很多好處，但它也面臨一些挑戰。對於阿基米德來說，使用甲烷和液態氧確實是關鍵部分，也是挑戰之一，那就是啟動預燃器。通常，您希望燃燒室​​中的燃料混合比為 3:1 氧氣燃料，我們將在阿基米德上運行富氧預燃燒器循環，迫使我們將所有氧氣流過燃燒裝置。因此，我們的理想混合是在[100:1]之間，這是一個具有挑戰性的事情，要在沒有所有過量氧氣熄滅和燃燒的情況下實現。

Archimedes also has an extremely benign operating point, making it great for reliability and reusability, but it does mean that the pressures are low and ironically harder for the pre-burner. But I'm happy to say that we met all the operating points that we wanted to on those tests. That was a great accomplishment by the team. At the same time, the Archimedes team have been producing and testing full-scale hardware like valves, chambers, injectors, controllers and assemblies in preparation for development and propulsion tests, making for a really impressive site and all the pieces come together, like you see in the photo on the side as well.

阿基米德還具有極其良性的工作點，使其具有出色的可靠性和可重複使用性，但這確實意味著預燃器的壓力較低，而且諷刺的是更難。但我很高興地說，我們在這些測試中滿足了我們想要的所有操作點。這是團隊的偉大成就。與此同時，阿基米德團隊一直在生產和測試全尺寸硬件，如閥門、腔室、噴射器、控制器和組件，為開發和推進測試做準備，打造了一個令人印象深刻的場地，所有部件都組裝在一起，就像您一樣也可以在側面的照片中看到。

Over to Neutron infrastructure. So, supporting infrastructure for Neutron has also scaled quickly over the past few months. Groundworks are being completed in Virginia where our Neutron pad will be. Test facilities and support services will be based there as well and we're ready for construction to begin at a launch site located close to our key government customers, which will enjoy the benefits of a less congested launch site than obviously the Cape. In Q4, we opened our new engine development center in Long Beach that will support the development and production of the Archimedes engine. And once the engines are completed at EDC, they'll go to testing at our NASA Stennis Space Center where the Neutron team has been busy with site improvements to accept the engine for hot fires.

前往 Neutron 基礎設施。因此，Neutron 的支援基礎設施在過去幾個月也迅速擴展。弗吉尼亞州的基礎工程正在完成，我們的中子發射台將在那裡。測試設施和支援服務也將設在那裡，我們已準備好在靠近我們主要政府客戶的發射場開始建設，這將享受到比開普敦發射場不那麼擁擠的好處。第四季度，我們在長灘開設了新的引擎開發中心，該中心將支援阿基米德引擎的開發和生產。一旦引擎在 EDC 完成，它們將在我們的 NASA 斯坦尼斯太空中心進行測試，中子團隊一直忙於現場改進以接受引擎的熱火。

And then finally, Neutron time line. All of these achievements across Q3 and Q4 that I've mentioned and several others are shown here have been great to tick off along the Neutron time line. We have completed second stage tank testing, printed key Archimedes engine parts and components had success with our combustion testing devices, completed qualification testing of their composite overhead pressure vessel, run through separation lock deployment testing and stage pusher system testing, completed our actuator motor controller testing, finished test on our power management module, confirmed Neutron engine and stage controller functions as it should, completed avionics controller testing, successfully tested the vehicle thermal protection system, stood up the test rig for the incoming Neutron Canard and Canard system testing.

最後是中子時間軸。我提到的第三季和第四季的所有這些成就以及此處顯示的其他幾項成就都沿著 Neutron 時間線取得了巨大的進步。我們已經完成了第二級儲罐測試，列印了關鍵的阿基米德發動機零件，並通過我們的燃燒測試設備取得了成功，完成了複合材料頂置壓力容器的資格測試，進行了分離鎖部署測試和級推動器系統測試，完成了我們的執行器馬達控制器測試，完成了對我們的電源管理模組的測試，確認了中子引擎和級控制器的功能，完成了航電控制器測試，成功測試了飛行器熱保護系統，為傳入的中子鴨式和鴨式系統測試建立了試驗台。

The team is obviously working hard to keep our ambitious schedule for the rest of the year and into '24 with the same -- with some of the next year milestones to account for, including first stage qualification tank tests completed, Archimedes engine testing campaign and the first simulated flight orbit with our hardware connected to our flight computers. Now, we will continue to provide updates on how a Neutron is tracking outside our quarterly reviews.

顯然，該團隊正在努力保持今年剩餘時間和 24 年雄心勃勃的時間表，並考慮明年的一些里程碑，包括完成第一階段資格坦克測試、阿基米德發動機測試活動和第一個模擬飛行軌道，我們的硬體連接到我們的飛行電腦。現在，我們將繼續在季度審查之外提供有關 Neutron 如何追蹤的最新資訊。

Beyond Electron and Neutron, our hypersonic test vehicle, HASTE has seen significant amounts of interest from new and returning government customers, looking to further develop the nation's hypersonic testing capability. We've actually booked 7 launch contracts in the 6 months since our HASTE program was introduced, including our latest mission announced today, a HASTE launch from Virginia from the U.S. Department of Defense Innovation Unit. This mission will demonstrate HASTE direct inject capability by deploying its payload during ascent, while still within the Earth's atmosphere, along sought after capability for the nation's strategic defense and civil needs at a fraction of the cost of the current full-scale tests.

除了我們的高超音速測試飛行器「電子和中子」之外，HASTE 還看到了新舊政府客戶的濃厚興趣，希望進一步發展國家的高超音速測試能力。實際上，自 HASTE 計劃推出以來的 6 個月內，我們已經預訂了 7 份發射合同，包括我們今天宣布的最新任務，即美國國防部創新部門從弗吉尼亞州進行的 HASTE 發射。該任務將透過在上升過程中部署有效載荷（仍在地球大氣層內）來展示 HASTE 直接注入能力，以及滿足國家戰略防禦和民用需求的能力，而成本只是當前全面測試的一小部分。

On to Space Systems now, and we have a new spacecraft order on the books for a confidential constellation customer that builds on a strong demand for our satellite products. This particular spacecraft will include a full suite of our own satellite components and subsystems, including star trackers, reaction wheels, solar panels, S-band radios, flight software and so on and so forth. This contract, in particular, speaks to the popularity and configurability of our spacecraft bus, but the confidence also in our satellite components in the market and our ability to grow and end-to-end mission -- grow as an end-to-end mission partner for the space industry.

現在談到太空系統，我們為一個保密的星座客戶簽訂了新的太空船訂單，該訂單建立在對我們衛星產品的強烈需求之上。這個特殊的太空船將包括一整套我們自己的衛星組件和子系統，包括星星追蹤器、反作用輪、太陽能電池板、S波段無線電、飛行軟體等等。這份合約特別說明了我們的太空船總線的受歡迎程度和可配置性，同時也體現了我們對市場上的衛星組件以及我們發展和端到端任務的能力的信心——作為端到端的增長航太產業的任務合作夥伴。

Now importantly, we'll also be managing the mission's operations and a further demonstration of our end-to-end business model of building and operating satellites that we build for our customers. Continuous Space Systems to our largest space system contract now, the $143 million contract we have with MDA Globalstar. We're getting close to the delivery of our first of 17 spacecraft for the program by the end of Q1 next year. Having cleared significant milestones in the contract in the past few months, the spacecraft critical design review and delivery of a structural thermal model for the customer. We expect to recognize revenue from those invoice payments to MDA in the fourth quarter of 2023. This sets the stage for a more meaningful revenue contribution from this contract as we enter 2024.

現在重要的是，我們還將管理任務的運營，並進一步展示我們為客戶建造和運營衛星的端到端業務模式。 Continuous Space Systems 是我們目前最大的空間系統合同，即我們與 MDA Globalstar 簽訂的價值 1.43 億美元的合約。我們即將在明年第一季末交付該專案 17 艘太空船中的第一艘。在過去幾個月中完成了合約中的重要里程碑後，太空船進行了關鍵設計審查並為客戶提供了結構熱模型。我們預計將在 2023 年第四季度確認向 MDA 支付的這些發票付款的收入。這為進入 2024 年時從該合約中做出更有意義的收入貢獻奠定了基礎。

We continue to pursue increasingly complex and financially needle-moving space system opportunities and are encouraged by progress being made in this part of our business. And we believe that these pursuits position us to continue scaling as an end-to-end space solutions leader. Lastly, on space systems updates. We're proud to have directly supported the success of NASA's groundbreaking Psyche mission launched in October with our solar panels powering the spacecraft on its 6-year journey into deep space. These solar panels we provided to the mission hold the record for being the largest solar panels ever installed on an NASA JPL satellite, which we're immensely proud of.

我們繼續尋求日益複雜和財務上急需的太空系統機會，並對我們這部分業務所取得的進展感到鼓舞。我們相信，這些追求使我們能夠繼續擴大規模，成為端到端空間解決方案的領導者。最後，關於空間系統的更新。我們很自豪能夠直接支持 NASA 於 10 月發射的開創性 Psyche 任務的成功，我們的太陽能電池板為太空船在其為期 6 年的深空之旅中提供動力。我們為這次任務提供的這些太陽能電池板保持著 NASA JPL 衛星上安裝的最大太陽能板的記錄，我們對此感到非常自豪。

And then finally, into post-quarter achievements. I'm thrilled to welcome retired U.S. Space Force Lieutenant General Nina Armagno to Rocket Lab's Board of Directors. Lieutenant General Armagno served more than 35 years in leadership positions across the U.S. [base force] and U.S. Space Force, including -- U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, including being the first Lieutenant General Officer appointed to and Director of Staff for the Space Force where she established America's first new military branch in 72 years. She's had an accomplished and distinguished career in the military and will be an invaluable asset to the Board.

最後，進入季度後的成就。我很高興歡迎退休的美國太空軍中將 Nina Armagno 加入火箭實驗室董事會。阿馬尼奧中將在美國[基地部隊]和美國太空軍（包括美國空軍和美國太空軍）擔任領導職務超過 35 年，包括成為首位被任命為太空軍的中將兼參謀長她在部隊建立了72 年來美國第一個新的軍事部門。她在軍隊中有著出色的職業生涯，將成為董事會的寶貴資產。

And now over to Adam for the third quarter financial highlights.

現在請 Adam 來分享第三季的財務亮點。

Thanks, Pete. Third quarter 2023 revenue was $67.7 million, which is near the high end of our prior revised guidance of $66 million to $68 million. Third quarter 2023 revenue reflects sequential growth of 9%, the result of 3 launches and continued growth in our Space Systems business.

謝謝，皮特。 2023 年第三季營收為 6,770 萬美元，接近我們先前修訂後的指導值 6,600 萬至 6,800 萬美元的上限。 2023 年第三季營收季增 9%，這是我們太空系統業務的 3 次發射和持續成長的結果。

Our Launch Services segment delivered revenue of $21.3 million in the quarter from 3 launches and is in line with post-anomaly revised guidance of $22 million with the slight [under-ridge] due to timing of revenue under our launch study contracting. The resulting average revenue per launch came in at $7.1 million, below our target average selling price of $7.5 million for 2023 and the result of less favorable mix in the quarter. Our current backlog continues to reflect our target average revenue per launch with variability tied to LSA volume commitments, launch location and unique mission assurance requirements.

我們的發射服務部門在本季度通過3 次發射實現了2130 萬美元的收入，符合異常後2200 萬美元的修訂指導，但由於我們的發射研究合同下的收入時間安排而略有[下脊]。最終每次發布的平均收入為 710 萬美元，低於我們 2023 年 750 萬美元的目標平均售價，也是本季不太有利的組合的結果。我們目前的積壓訂單繼續反映了我們每次發射的目標平均收入，其可變性與 LSA 數量承諾、發射地點和獨特的任務保證要求相關。

Our Space Systems segment delivered $46.3 million in the quarter, which was up 17% sequentially and modestly above the high end of our prior revised guidance range of $44 million to $46 million, driven by a step-up in our MDA contract revenue, offset somewhat by a reduction in our components business, which is poised to rebound in the fourth quarter guide that we'll discuss later.

我們的太空系統部門本季交付了4,630 萬美元，比上一季度增長了17%，略高於我們先前修訂的指導範圍4,400 萬美元至4,600 萬美元的上限，這在我們的MDA 合約收入增加的推動下有所抵消。我們的零件業務減少，該業務預計將在第四季度指南中反彈，我們將在稍後討論。

Now, turning to gross margin. GAAP gross margin for the third quarter was 22.1%, above the high end of our prior revised guidance range of 18% to 20%. Non-GAAP gross margin for the third quarter was 29.5%, which was also above our prior revised guidance range of 26% to 28%. GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin improvements relative to our revised Q3, 2023 guidance reflect continued efficiencies in both our launch and satellite manufacturing businesses. We ended Q3 with production-related head count of 816, up 49 from the prior quarter.

現在，轉向毛利率。第三季 GAAP 毛利率為 22.1%，高於我們先前修訂後的指引範圍 18% 至 20% 的上限。第三季非 GAAP 毛利率為 29.5%，也高於我們先前修訂後的指引範圍 26% 至 28%。相對於我們修訂後的 2023 年第三季指引，公認會計準則和非公認會計準則毛利率的改善反映了我們的發射和衛星製造業務的持續高效。截至第三季末，生產相關員工人數為 816 人，比上一季增加 49 人。

We also note that non-GAAP gross margins reflect a 430 basis point improvement versus Q2, 2023 when adjusting for Q2's one-time $4.1 million release of the loss reserve related to a legacy launch contract. We're encouraged by the trend in gross margin improvement and expect this trend to continue into 2024, as we return to launch and resume growth Electron's launch cadence against our strong and growing launch backlog.

我們還注意到，在對第二季度一次性發放的與遺留發射合約相關的 410 萬美元損失準備金進行調整後，非 GAAP 毛利率較 2023 年第二季度提高了 430 個基點。我們對毛利率改善的趨勢感到鼓舞，並預計這種趨勢將持續到 2024 年，因為我們將重新推出並恢復成長 Electron 的推出節奏，以應對我們強勁且不斷增長的推出積壓。

Turning to backlog. We ended Q3, 2023 with $582.4 million of total backlog with launch backlog of $250.7 million and Space Systems backlog of $331.7 million. Relative to Q2, 2023, total backlog was up 9% sequentially or $48.1 million, thanks to healthy bookings in our launch business, partially offset by declines in Space Systems. For launch specifically, backlog was up 55% sequentially or $88.8 million as Electron continues to benefit from return orders of both commercial and HASTE customers.

轉向積壓。截至 2023 年第三季度，我們的積壓訂單總額為 5.824 億美元，其中發射積壓訂單為 2.507 億美元，太空系統積壓訂單為 3.317 億美元。與 2023 年第二季度相比，由於我們發射業務的預訂量良好，積壓訂單總額環比增長了 9%，即 4,810 萬美元，但部分被太空系統業務的下降所抵消。具體而言，由於 Electron 繼續受益於商業和 HASTE 客戶的退貨訂單，積壓訂單環比增長 55% 或 8880 萬美元。

For Space Systems, backlog was down 11% sequentially or $40.7 million as we continue to work through our larger satellite manufacturing contracts and the timing of additions to Space Systems backlog are lumpy to the increasingly complexity and magnitude of these contract opportunities. We expect approximately 57% of current backlog to be recognized as revenues within 12 months and expect continued meaningful growth in our backlog as we exit 2023 and progress through 2024, thanks to continued demand for our Electron platform as well as anticipated orders for significant satellite manufacturing opportunities we've aggressively been considering over the last year or so.

對於太空系統公司來說，隨著我們繼續完成更大的衛星製造合同，積壓訂單環比下降了11%，即4070 萬美元，而且隨著這些合同機會日益複雜和規模的增加，增加太空系統積壓訂單的時間也變得不穩定。我們預計目前積壓訂單的約57% 將在12 個月內確認為收入，並預計隨著我們退出2023 年並在2024 年取得進展，我們的積壓訂單將持續有意義的增長，這要歸功於對我們的Electron 平台的持續需求以及重要衛星製造的預期訂單在過去一年左右的時間裡，我們一直在積極考慮機會。

Turning to operating expenses. GAAP operating expenses for the third quarter of 2023 were $53.8 million, modestly above the high end of our original and unrevised guidance range of $51 million to $53 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses for the third quarter were $39.8 million, which is at the high end of our original and unrevised guidance range of $38 million to $40 million. The decreases in both GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses versus the second quarter of 2023 were primarily driven by contra R&D credits related to Neutron upper stage development from our U.S. government partners, partially offset by higher Neutron development spending, increases in head count and higher depreciation and amortization expenses.

轉向營運費用。 2023 年第三季的 GAAP 營運費用為 5,380 萬美元，略高於我們最初和未經修訂的指導範圍 5,100 萬美元至 5,300 萬美元的上限。第三季非 GAAP 營運費用為 3,980 萬美元，處於我們最初和未經修訂的指導範圍 3,800 萬美元至 4,000 萬美元的上限。與2023 年第二季相比，GAAP 和非GAAP 營運費用均有所下降，主要是由於我們的美國政府合作夥伴提供的與Neutron 上級開發相關的反向研發信貸，部分被Neutron 開發支出增加、員工人數增加和更高的支出所抵消。折舊和攤提費用。

In SG&A, GAAP expenses decreased $1.5 million quarter-on-quarter due to a change in contingent consideration related to our PSC acquisition due to a lower average stock price in the quarter. Non-GAAP SG&A expenses increased by $700,000, primarily due to increases in head count, along with the step-up in depreciation and amortization, primarily related to additions to corporate IT and security infrastructure to further enable efficient scaling of the business. Q3 ending SG&A head count was 236, representing an increase of 8 from the prior quarter.

在銷售、管理和行政費用方面，由於本季平均股價較低，與我們的 PSC 收購相關的或有對價發生變化，GAAP 費用環比減少 150 萬美元。非 GAAP SG&A 費用增加了 700,000 美元，主要是由於員工數量的增加以及折舊和攤銷的增加，主要與企業 IT 和安全基礎設施的增加有關，以進一步實現業務的高效擴展。第三季末 SG&A 員工人數為 236 人，比上一季增加 8 人。

In R&D specifically, GAAP expenses were down $4.4 million quarter-on-quarter to increased contra R&D credits related to the previously referenced Neutron upper stage development, partially offset by a step-up in Neutron development spending and non-GAAP expenses were down $4.3 million quarter-on-quarter, driven similarly to GAAP expenses by Neutron related contra R&D credit and development spend. Q3 ending R&D head count was 520, representing an increase of 2 from the prior quarter.

具體而言，在研發方面，GAAP 支出環比下降 440 萬美元，因為與先前提到的 Neutron 上級開發相關的研發信貸增加，部分被 Neutron 開發支出的增加所抵消，非 GAAP 支出下降了 430 萬美元與上一季相比，與GAAP 支出類似，由Neutron 相關的研發信貸和開發支出所推動。第三季末研發人員總數為 520 人，較上季增加 2 人。

In summary, total third quarter head count was 1,572, up 59 heads from the prior quarter. Purchase of property, equipment and capitalized software licenses was $21 million in the third quarter of 2023, an increase from $10.6 million in the second quarter of 2023. The sequential increase was due to our continued investment in Neutron research, testing and production infrastructure projects, along with the expansion of our satellite production and space solar solutions capacity.

總而言之，第三季員工總數為 1,572 人，比上一季增加 59 人。 2023 年第三季購買財產、設備和資本化軟體許可證的費用為2,100 萬美元，較2023 年第二季的1,060 萬美元有所增加。環比增長是由於我們對Neutron 研究、測試和生產基礎設施專案的持續投資，隨著我們衛星生產和太空太陽能解決方案能力的擴大。

Cash consumed from operations was $25.2 million in the third quarter of 2023 compared to $6.1 million in the second quarter of 2023. The sequential increase of $19.1 million was driven primarily by timing of receipts and payments associated with our satellite production programs, which for some of our larger programs have significant periods between milestone achievement, invoicing and ultimately, collections, which at the end of the day, are purely timing related. More specifically, Q2 was a quarter that benefited from a working capital dynamic, where we collected on material milestone invoices that were invoiced in the prior quarter where payment terms are more lengthy than our target 30 to 45 days.

2023 年第三季營運消耗的現金為 2,520 萬美元，而 2023 年第二季為 610 萬美元。環比增長 1,910 萬美元主要是由於與我們的衛星生產計劃相關的收支時間安排，這對於一些我們的大型專案在實現里程碑、開立發票和最終收款之間有很長的時間，歸根結底，這純粹是與時間相關的。更具體地說，第二季度是受益於營運資金動態的一個季度，我們收集了上一季開立的重大里程碑發票，其中付款期限比我們的目標 30 至 45 天更長。

Cash consumed by asset acquisition and business combinations was $800,000 in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease from $16.1 million in the second quarter of 2023. The sequential decrease of $15.3 million was driven by the majority of our Virgin Orbit select asset acquisitions being realized in the second quarter. Overall, non-GAAP free cash flow, defined as GAAP operating cash flow reduced by purchase of property, equipment and capitalized software in the third quarter of 2023 was a use of $47 million compared to $16.7 million in the second quarter of 2023 or a more apples-to-apples comparison of $32.8 million when including the impact of our acquisition of select Virgin Orbit assets, most of which were classified as PP&E.

2023 年第三季資產收購和業務合併消耗的現金為80 萬美元，較2023 年第二季的1,610 萬美元有所下降。環比減少1,530 萬美元是由於我們大部分Virgin Orbit 精選資產收購是在2023 年實現的。第二季。總體而言，非GAAP 自由現金流（定義為2023 年第三季因購買財產、設備和資本化軟體而減少的GAAP 營運現金流）為4,700 萬美元，而2023 年第二季或更多季度為1,670 萬美元。考慮到我們收購維珍軌道精選資產（其中大部分被歸類為 PP&E）的影響，同類比較為 3280 萬美元。

The material step-up in negative free cash flow was, as noted in my earlier GAAP operating cash flow commentary was a result of lumpy timing of payments and receipts associated with our Space Systems manufacturing operations and we expect the reversal of this negative capital cycle in early 2024. The ending balance of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities was $374 million at the end of the third quarter of 2023.

正如我之前在GAAP 營運現金流評論中指出的那樣，負自由現金流的大幅增加是由於與我們的太空系統製造業務相關的付款和收款時間不固定的結果，我們預計這種負資本週期將在 2019 年逆轉。2024 年初。截至 2023 年第三季末，現金、現金等價物、限制性現金和有價證券的期末餘額為 3.74 億美元。

Reflecting in the past 4 quarters, we have made meaningful progress towards our long-term financial model. We have delivered consistent revenue growth and when adjusting for the one-time release of a loss reserve in Q2, gross margin expansion and shrinking adjusted EBITDA losses each quarter. With our strong launch manifest and greater contribution from Space Systems contract execution in 2024, we expect this trend to continue. Overall, we expect gross margin trends will continue to improve over time, thanks to the same factors that have helped drive improvement we've seen this year. In terms of when we can get to adjusted EBITDA breakeven, while Neutron investment, especially R&D spend continues to be the pacing item to achieving this critical milestone. Although, we view that Rocket Lab has demonstrated that its existing businesses are on a trajectory to offset the weight of this Neutron investment spend.

回顧過去的四個季度，我們在長期財務模式方面取得了有意義的進展。我們實現了持續的收入成長，並且在對第二季一次性釋放的損失準備金進行調整時，毛利率擴張，並且每季調整後的 EBITDA 損失縮小。隨著我們強勁的發射表現以及 2024 年 Space Systems 合約執行的更大貢獻，我們預計這一趨勢將持續下去。總體而言，我們預計毛利率趨勢將隨著時間的推移而繼續改善，這要歸功於我們今年看到的推動改善的相同因素。就我們何時能夠實現調整後的 EBITDA 盈虧平衡而言，Neutron 投資，尤其是研發支出仍然是實現這一關鍵里程碑的節奏項目。儘管如此，我們認為 Rocket Lab 已證明其現有業務正在抵消 Neutron 投資支出的壓力。

With that, let's turn to our guidance for the fourth quarter of 2023. We expect revenue in the fourth quarter to range between $65 million and $69 million, which reflects $48.5 million to $52.5 million of contribution from Space Systems and $16.5 million from launch services, which assumes 2 launches. As referenced earlier, based on our manifested launch backlog, we now expect 11 launches in 2023 and 22 launches in 2024 with an expectation that our average selling price that continues to trend towards our current target of $7.5 million through the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.

接下來，讓我們轉向我們對2023 年第四季度的指導。我們預計第四季度的收入將在6500 萬美元至6900 萬美元之間，其中反映出太空系統公司的4850 萬美元至5250 萬美元的貢獻以及來自發射服務的1650 萬美元。假設發射 2 次。如前所述，根據我們明顯的發布積壓，我們現在預計2023 年將推出11 款，2024 年將推出22 款，預計我們的平均售價將在2023 年剩餘時間和2024 年繼續朝著目前750 萬美元的目標發展。

We expect fourth quarter GAAP gross margin to range between 24% to 26% and non-GAAP gross margin to range between 30% to 32%. These forecasted GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin improvements reflect a favorable mix between Launch and Space Systems, along with a favorable mix within Space Systems. We expect fourth quarter GAAP operating expenses to range between $61 million and $63 million and non-GAAP operating expenses to range between $50 million and $52 million.

我們預計第四季 GAAP 毛利率將在 24% 至 26% 之間，非 GAAP 毛利率將在 30% 至 32% 之間。這些預測的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 毛利率改善反映了發射系統和航太系統之間的有利組合，以及航太系統內部的有利組合。我們預計第四季度 GAAP 營運支出將在 6,100 萬美元至 6,300 萬美元之間，非 GAAP 營運支出將在 5,000 萬美元至 5,200 萬美元之間。

The quarter-on-quarter increases are driven primarily by having recognized a substantial amount of contra R&D credit related to our Neutron upper stage development agreement with U.S. Space Force in the prior quarter, along with increases in staff costs, prototyping and material spend as we continue ramping our Neutron development program. We expect fourth quarter GAAP and non-GAAP net interest expense to be $2 million. We expect fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA loss to range between $23 million and $27 million and basic shares outstanding to be approximately 487 million shares.

季度環比成長的主要原因是我們確認了上一季與美國太空軍簽訂的中子上級開發協議相關的大量反向研發信貸，以及員工成本、原型設計和材料支出的增加。繼續增加我們的Neutron開發計劃。我們預期第四季 GAAP 和非 GAAP 淨利息支出為 200 萬美元。我們預計第四季度調整後 EBITDA 損失將在 2,300 萬美元至 2,700 萬美元之間，已發行基本股約為 4.87 億股。

Additionally, the unique situation created by the anomaly and related pent-up impacts to the Launch Manifest as we prepare to return to flight and head into 2024, combined with better visibility on Space Systems program execution and revenue recognition as we prepare to ship the first spacecraft against the MDA Globalstar program in the middle of the first half of 2024, provides us with a visibility and confidence to estimate Q1, 2024 revenue to range between $95 million and $105 million, putting inside our first $100 million revenue quarter. This forecast will be the result of 4 to 5 launches in the quarter, yielding between $30 million and $37 million of launch revenue and $65 million to $68 million of contribution from Space Systems. This would represent a significant milestone for the company and we believe a strong endorsement of the end-to-end space solutions business model we're delivering on.

此外，當我們準備返回飛行並進入2024 年時，異常現象和相關的被壓抑的影響對發射清單造成的獨特情況，加上我們準備發射第一架時對空間系統項目執行和收入確認的更好可見性2024 年上半年中期針對MDA Globalstar 計畫推出的太空船，為我們提供了可見性和信心，預計2024 年第一季的營收將在9,500 萬美元至1.05 億美元之間，從而實現我們第一個1 億美元營收季度的目標。這項預測將是本季 4 至 5 次發射的結果，產生 3,000 萬至 3,700 萬美元的發射收入，以及來自太空系統的 6,500 萬至 6,800 萬美元的貢獻。這對公司來說是一個重要的里程碑，我們相信我們正在提供的端到端空間解決方案業務模式得到了強烈認可。

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

然後，我們會將電話轉交給接線生詢問問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Edison Yu with Deutsche Bank.

謝謝。 （操作員指示） 您的第一個問題來自德意志銀行Edison Yu 的電話。

I appreciate the level of detail you provided on the investigation. First question on the manifest for next year. Can you give us a sense of your confidence level on the 22? Is that sort of your base case? Or in other words, the range is sort of 20 to 24 and the midpoint would be 22? Or do you need kind of everything to go right to hit that 22 target?

我很欣賞你提供的有關調查的詳細資訊。關於明年的清單的第一個問題。能為我們介紹一下您對 22 日的信心程度嗎？這是你的基本狀況嗎？或者換句話說，範圍是 20 到 24，中點是 22？或者您需要一切才能正確實現 22 個目標？

Edison, as with any launch contract, right, we are always somewhat susceptible to factors that we can't control, like customer readiness is always a big one. The customers need to turn up with their satellites on time, weather and of course, as I mentioned in my commentary, we have to execute from a manufacturing standpoint. But I think the key takeaway there is we have completely sold out manifest for next year at a number that is really solid. So, I would say that we have to execute and there's always some uncertainty for things that we don't control, but that's certainly what we're targeting.

愛迪生，就像任何發射合約一樣，我們總是有點容易受到我們無法控制的因素的影響，例如客戶準備程度始終是一個重要因素。客戶需要準時、準時地帶著衛星出現，當然，正如我在評論中提到的，我們必須從製造的角度執行。但我認為關鍵的一點是，我們明年的艙單已經完全售空，數量非常可觀。所以，我想說，我們必須執行，而且我們無法控制的事情總是存在一些不確定性，但這肯定是我們的目標。

And then just a follow-up to that. Can you give us a sense or maybe a bridge on the margin in launch? You had a very good quarter actually in 3Q. How does that margin trajectory look if you can get to that 22 launch cadence?

然後是後續行動。您能否給我們一些感覺，或是在發布過程中架起一座橋樑？事實上，第三季的季度表現非常好。如果您能夠達到 22 次發射節奏，那麼該裕度軌跡會是什麼樣子？

I'll take it past that, Pete. So Edison, yes, I mean, we've long stated that when we get to our target model for non-GAAP gross margins of around 50%, that requires launching 24 times a year. So, we're going to make significant progress towards that as we launch as we kind of strive to hit that 22 number next year. So -- and if you look at any given quarter, if we have, again, 6 launches in the quarter, that should be at or very close to our long-term 50% non-GAAP gross margin target.

我會過去的，皮特。所以愛迪生，是的，我的意思是，我們早就說過，當我們達到非 GAAP 毛利率約 50% 的目標車型時，需要每年推出 24 次。因此，當我們推出時，我們將在這方面取得重大進展，力爭明年達到 22 個數字。因此，如果你看一下任何一個特定季度，如果我們在該季度再次推出 6 款產品，那麼這應該達到或非常接近我們 50% 的非 GAAP 毛利率長期目標。

And if I can just sneak one more in on Neutron. [Quite a lot of] milestones, do we feel comfortable with the time line? Should we interpret that as you guys feeling comfortable with the time line on next year?

如果我能再偷偷溜進 Neutron 一下就好了。 [相當多]的里程碑，我們對時間表感到滿意嗎？我們是否應該將此解釋為你們對明年的時間表感到滿意？

Well, look, there's still a lot of work to go and the year is not finished yet. So, we're pushing hard. But at this stage, we're not making any adjustments to our predicted time line, but I just highlight there are still some really significant tests to be completed. But right now, we're not making any major changes.

好吧，看，還有很多工作要做，這一年還沒結束。所以，我們正在努力推動。但在現階段，我們不會對預測的時間軸進行任何調整，但我只是強調仍有一些非常重要的測試需要完成。但目前，我們沒有做出任何重大改變。

Your next question comes from the line of Matt Akers with Wells Fargo.

您的下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Matt Akers。

I wanted to ask on Neutron. After that first launch, what sort of rate do you envision doing Neutron launches? And what rate are you kind of capacitized to support now? At what point would you need to sort of add capacity there?

我想問一下Neutron。第一次發射後，您預計中子發射的速度是多少？您現在有能力支持多少利率？什麼時候您需要增加那裡的容量？

Matt, it's a good question. So, we're not trying to do anything Herculean on Neutron. We've lived through the pain of creating a launch vehicle and standing it up and bringing it into production. So, it follows a pretty similar cadence profile to what we were able to achieve with Electron. So, we'll do a test flight or a couple of test flights and then move into sort of 3 or 4 a year and then continue to bootstrap and grow that and really follow the same model that we followed with Electron where we launched a little bit, we generate some revenue, and we make improvements to the vehicle and we'll make improvements to the infrastructure. And we found that to be by far the most cost-effective way rather than going out and building a giant factory to do huge volumes from day 1 and just consume a tremendous amount of capital. We've kind of always bootstrapped that way along and increased flight rate and cadence along with that and facilities along with that.

馬特，這是個好問題。所以，我們並不想在 Neutron 上做任何艱鉅的事情。我們經歷了製造運載火箭、投入生產的痛苦。因此，它遵循與我們使用 Electron 能夠實現的非常相似的節奏曲線。因此，我們將進行一次或幾次試飛，然後每年進行 3 或 4 次，然後繼續引導和發展，並真正遵循我們在 Electron 上推出的相同模型。一點，我們產生一些收入，我們改進車輛，我們將改善基礎設施。我們發現，這是迄今為止最具成本效益的方式，而不是走出去建造一個巨型工廠，從第一天起就生產大量產品，並消耗大量資金。我們一直都是這樣引導的，並增加了飛行速度和節奏以及設施。

And then if I could ask on, I guess, free cash flow. How much sort of additional expense was there around kind of the investigation in Q3 and maybe into Q4? And sort of how are you thinking about free cash flow into 2024?

然後我想我是否可以詢問自由現金流。第三季甚至第四季的調查有多少額外費用？您如何看待 2024 年的自由現金流？

Matt, we didn't see a tremendous amount of, I would say, resource diversion. A lot of these kind of anomaly investigations take a select group of very capable people to dive in and do the analysis and investigation, there's not a lot of capital spend associated with it. And we continue to keep our foot on the gas when it came to production of Electron. So, the anomaly that gets yourself really won't have any kind of noticeable material effect on cash flow in the fourth quarter.

馬特，我想說，我們沒有看到大量的資源轉移。許多此類異常調查都需要精選一組非常有能力的人員進行分析和調查，與之相關的資本支出並不多。在 Electron 的生產方面，我們將繼續保持警惕。因此，出現的異常情況實際上不會對第四季度的現金流產生任何明顯的實質影響。

I think the biggest thing for us for cash flow is really around timing for these big Space Systems contracts. I mean if you look at our launch business, people typical model is you get paid -- people pay a 10% deposit at contract signing and then there's milestone payments along the way. And typically, there's only 10% left to collect at the time that we actually launch the mission. So that's always been a good cash flow model. It's just all about that getting that business to scale, which, again, we're making great strides in being able to do.

我認為對我們來說現金流最重要的實際上是這些大型太空系統合約的時間表。我的意思是，如果你看看我們的啟動業務，人們典型的模式是你得到報酬——人們在簽訂合約時支付 10% 的定金，然後一路上進行里程碑付款。通常，當我們實際啟動任務時，只剩下 10% 可以收集。所以這一直是一個很好的現金流模型。這只是為了擴大業務規模，而我們在這方面又取得了長足的進步。

When it comes to Space Systems, there are large contracts. I mentioned lumpy a few times in the prepared commentary and that's really true because you can have the achievement -- you have some delays of achievement of critical design milestones. You got to get through those gates before you can turn that over into the AIT phase of the program where you're doing the assembly, integration and test side of it. And so you can have periods depending what your payment terms are with your customers and on our largest Space Systems contracts, we're dealing with pretty sophisticated organizations that had pretty tough terms. It was -- we were chasing our first large and meaningful Space Systems contracts.

說到空間系統，就有大合約。我在準備好的評論中多次提到了“笨拙”，這確實是真的，因為你可以取得成就——關鍵設計里程碑的實現會有一些延遲。您必須先通過這些關卡，然後才能將其轉入程式的 AIT 階段，在該階段進行組裝、整合和測試。因此，您可以根據您與客戶的付款條件以及我們最大的空間系統合約來確定期限，我們正在與相當複雜的組織打交道，這些組織的條款非常嚴格。那是——我們正在追逐我們的第一個大型且有意義的太空系統合約。

So, we weren't necessarily in the best position to negotiate those types of terms to our advantage. But it leads to some, I would say, some -- a little bit of interim to near-term pain on that side. And we've experienced that in 2023. We expect that dynamic from the operating parts of our business to turn around and be much stronger from a cash flow perspective in 2024. Now, we'll continue to see consumption when it comes to Neutron, particularly around prototyping and particularly around infrastructure because we still have infrastructure investments that continue to make to prepare for that first launch at the end of 2024.

因此，我們不一定處於最有利的位置來談判這些類型的條款，從而對我們有利。但我想說，這會導致一些——一些暫時到近期的痛苦。我們在 2023 年經歷了這一點。我們預計我們業務營運部分的這種動態將在 2024 年扭轉，從現金流的角度來看會更加強勁。現在，我們將繼續看到 Neutron 的消費，特別是在原型設計和基礎設施方面，因為我們仍在繼續進行基礎設施投資，為2024 年底的首次發布做準備。

Your next question comes from the line of Cai von Rumohr with TD Cowen.

你的下一個問題來自 Cai von Rumohr 和 TD Cowen 的對話。

So first quarter, it looks like you have a target price of $7.5 million. Is that the price likely to be for the entire year? Or given the vigor in demand, are you guys increasing prices as we move forward? And if so, by how much?

所以第一季度，你們的目標價似乎是 750 萬美元。這可能是全年的價格嗎？或者鑑於需求旺盛，你們會隨著我們的進展而提高價格嗎？如果是的話，幅度是多少？

Yes, it's a good question, Kai. So, the manifest that we showed in the deck, I mean that is confirmed backlog pricing is not in question, right? So that does drive to our long-term pricing model in 2024 and that's all contracts, of course, that we can continue to add to the backlog. As we move forward, we certainly are seeing an environment that allows us to drive for firmer pricing. As being one of the few truly operational launch providers, we do have -- we do see pricing power coming in our direction. And so we expect that longer term, we'll see upward movement to the ASP for electron launches. But I would say, again, there's really no volatility to the ones that we showed in the manifest, those are all kind of -- they're booked in their firm price.

是的，這是個好問題，凱。所以，我們在甲板上展示的清單，我的意思是確認積壓定價不存在問題，對吧？因此，這確實推動了我們 2024 年的長期定價模型，當然，這就是我們可以繼續添加到積壓訂單中的所有合約。隨著我們的前進，我們肯定會看到一個允許我們推動更堅定的定價的環境。作為為數不多的真正運營的發射提供者之一，我們確實擁有——我們確實看到定價能力正在朝著我們的方向發展。因此，我們預計，從長遠來看，我們將看到電子發射的平均售價上升。但我要再說一遍，我們在清單中顯示的那些確實沒有波動，這些都是以固定價格預訂的。

With I guess, not to beat a horse but with Virgin Orbit basically gone, how come you don't increase prices. And when you talk about the longer term, at what point -- what would cause you to raise the price? I mean whether you then raise it, they're all going to go from $7.5 million to $8 million? Or how should I think about how that works? And how does it take into account inflation?

我想，不是為了打敗馬，而是維珍軌道基本上消失了，為什麼不提高價格。當你談論長期時，什麼時候——什麼會導致你提高價格？我的意思是，無論你隨後籌集資金，它們都會從 750 萬美元漲到 800 萬美元嗎？或者我應該如何思考它是如何運作的？它如何考慮通貨膨脹？

I'll let Pete weigh on this one.

我會讓皮特考慮一下這個問題。

Yes. I mean we have -- we kind of have a standard escalation for that to deal with inflation year-on-year. And certain missions -- not all missions are the same kind of to Adam's point, is when we do some of the very complicated government and hypersonic missions they command a much higher price than a mission where we're flying -- someone's bought 6 rockets from us and we're flying the same satellite again and again. So, there's just kind of variability. And I would say that we test the market pretty fairly on that pricing range, but still try to provide the right price for the products and services that they're expecting from us.

是的。我的意思是，我們有一個標準的升級措施來應對年比通膨。某些任務——就亞當的觀點而言，並非所有任務都是一樣的，當我們執行一些非常複雜的政府和高超音速任務時，它們的價格比我們飛行的任務要高得多——有人購買了6 枚火箭來自我們，我們一次又一次地飛行同一顆衛星。所以，只是存在某種可變性。我想說的是，我們在這個定價範圍上相當公平地測試了市場，但仍然努力為他們期望從我們這裡獲得的產品和服務提供合適的價格。

I just have one last one. So, out of the 22 launches, how many are from Virginia?

我只剩下最後一張了那麼，在 22 次發射中，有多少是來自維吉尼亞州？

I believe right now, I think there are -- there's at least 2 or maybe 3 launches currently manifested for Virginia.

我相信現在，我認為弗吉尼亞州目前至少有 2 次或可能 3 次發射。

Your next question comes from the line of Suji Desilva with Roth MKM.

您的下一個問題來自 Suji Desilva 和 Roth MKM 的線路。

My questions are on the Space Systems and thanks for the 1Q guidance there. The increase in 1Q versus 4Q, is that primarily the GSAT MDA program ramping up? Or is that the second customer contributing? Any color there on the increase guided for 1Q would be helpful.

我的問題是關於空間系統的，感謝第一季的指導。第一季與第四季相比的成長，主要是 GSAT MDA 計畫的增加嗎？還是第二個客戶做出貢獻？第一季指導成長的任何顏色都會有幫助。

Yes. There's a few things contributing to that, obviously, the higher launch cadence as we kind of get back to the pad, as Pete said, on November 28. So, it's really coming across the board. We've got strength, in Electron that's coming through and contributing. On the Space Systems side, there's a few things that are going on there. But the biggest element is really is the MDA Globalstar vehicles, again, start coming off the production line. We have a much clearer line of sight to the revenue recognition as bill materials are pulled to the production floor to assemble the spacecraft and the testing and so forth. So, it's -- there was a bit of uncertainty as we progress through 2023, because you have milestones for when you get and get through key program reviews like PDRs and CDRs, and you really can't progress and until you get through those.

是的。顯然，有一些因素促成了這一點，正如皮特在 11 月 28 日所說，當我們回到發射台時，發布節奏會加快。所以，這確實是全面的。我們擁有 Electron 的力量，它正在發揮作用並做出貢獻。在空間系統方面，正在發生一些事情。但最重要的因素確實是 MDA Globalstar 車輛再次開始下線。當票據材料被拉到生產車間以組裝太空船和測試等時，我們對收入確認有了更清晰的視野。所以，當我們在2023 年取得進展時，存在一些不確定性，因為當您獲得並通過PDR 和CDR 等關鍵項目審查時，您會遇到一些里程碑，並且在您完成這些之前，您確實無法取得進展。

Once you have that, and it's a much more -- nothing is easy in this business, but there's a much more kind of predictable formulaic. You've got almost a day-for-day schedule of how you can kind of start to assemble based on the labor that you have and the BOM that you perceived or ordered and when it's scheduled to arrive. It's a much easier thing to predict once you get past those key defined pieces and you move into AIT. So, I would say that the majority of the step-up in -- the biggest piece of it, say, maybe not the majority of the biggest piece of the step-up in Q1 is coming from the Globalstar MDA contract, but there is contribution from our other satellite programs as well.

一旦你掌握了這一點，在這個行業中沒有什麼是容易的，但有一個更可預測的公式。您已經有了幾乎每天的時間表，了解如何根據您擁有的勞動力、您感知或訂購的 BOM 以及計劃到達時間開始組裝。一旦你超越了這些關鍵的定義部分並進入 AIT，預測就會變得容易得多。因此，我想說，其中最大的一部分，比如說，也許不是第一季度最大部分的大部分來自 Globalstar MDA 合同，但有我們其他衛星計劃也做出了貢獻。

And then my other question is on the satellite part, manufacturing part of Space Systems as well. With the MDA contract with the 17 satellites and then the second customer coming on, I'm wondering what framework we should think about -- you just think about the capacity per quarter of the number of satellites you can make, if that's the right way to think about how that business can grow over time.

我的另一個問題是關於衛星部分，以及太空系統的製造部分。隨著與17 顆衛星的MDA 合約以及第二個客戶的到來，我想知道我們應該考慮什麼框架- 你只需考慮你可以製造的衛星數量的每四分之一的容量，如果這是正確的方式思考該業務如何隨著時間的推移而成長。

Yes. I mean I wouldn't necessarily just think about capacity because the kind of spacecraft projects we take on they're not just sort of cheap and cheerful easy metal bending kind of jobs. We're going to Mars and we've got the MDA at Globalstar is a great example, is a very deeply complicated mission in a horrible radiation environment. So, I wouldn't be necessarily tracking just the volume of spacecraft, but more so the complexity of the emissions because ultimately that drives a lot of value. And even the latest mission that we announced here today, the latest spacecraft, that is not -- that's not an easy build. So, we tend to be very successful and do very well and create a lot of value in those. There's as much higher fidelity, much, much tricky emissions to do. So, I wouldn't just use a volume kind of metric to kind of measure us.

是的。我的意思是，我不一定只考慮容量，因為我們承擔的太空船專案不僅僅是一種廉價而令人愉悅的簡單金屬彎曲工作。我們要去火星，全球星的 MDA 就是一個很好的例子，這是在可怕的輻射環境中進行的一項非常複雜的任務。因此，我不一定只追蹤太空船的體積，更重要的是追蹤排放的複雜性，因為最終這會帶來很大的價值。即使是我們今天在這裡宣布的最新任務，最新的太空船，這也不是一個容易建造的任務。因此，我們往往會非常成功，做得很好，並在其中創造很多價值。還有更高的保真度，還有很多很多棘手的排放要做。所以，我不會只使用體積指標來衡量我們。

Your next question comes from the line of Jason Gursky with Citi.

你的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Jason Gursky。

Adam, really quickly on the balance sheet. What are the current thoughts or expectations around $100 million that's gone current here? Are we looking to refi that? Or are we going to be taking some cash off the balance sheet to address that? Just want to figure that out from a modeling perspective.

亞當，資產負債表上的數據很快就出來了。目前關於 1 億美元的想法或期望是什麼？我們是否正在尋求重新配置？或者我們會從資產負債表上扣除一些現金來解決這個問題？只是想從建模的角度來弄清楚這一點。

No, we're actively in the process of looking to refinance that. We've got several options. We're pretty far down the path with a few different providers. And they range from doing equipment lines to kind of similar structures to term loans that the Hercules loan represented. But yes, no, that's -- we're looking to refinance that. I think we're hopeful that we'll get that done in hopefully in the next few weeks and again, almost certainly before the end of the year.

不，我們正在積極尋求再融資。我們有幾種選擇。我們在一些不同的提供者的道路上已經走得很遠了。它們的範圍從設備生產線到類似的結構，再到大力士貸款所代表的定期貸款。但是，是的，不，我們正在尋求再融資。我認為我們希望能夠在接下來的幾週內完成這項工作，並且幾乎肯定會在年底之前完成。

And then I want to make sure that I fully understand the comments on Electron for next year. Are you, at this point, fully sold out? Or if you had a couple of customers that wanted to quick-turn mission, would you have the launch vehicles available to do that? Or are you just kind of telling customers, okay, we're sold out for '24, got to look to '25?

然後我想確保我完全理解明年關於 Electron 的評論。你現在已經全部賣完了嗎？或者，如果您有幾個客戶想要快速執行任務，您是否有可用的運載火箭來執行此任務？還是你只是告訴顧客，好吧，我們的 24 號已經賣完了，你得看看 25 號？

Well, look, we'll always look for opportunistic opportunities. I mean it's fair to say that production will be at near full capacity next year as we deliver on those. But also as you guys see and we experience customers -- some customers slip out and it's very easy for a customer to have an issue in a [T-VEC] cycle and shifted out 6 months, which would create an open opportunity. So, we never say no to customers and although, yes, the manifest is essentially full, it doesn't mean that there's not going to be an opportunity open through the year. So yes, we always keep that in our discretion.

好吧，看，我們總是會尋找機會。我的意思是，可以公平地說，隨著我們實現這些目標，明年的生產將接近滿載。但正如你們所看到的，我們也經歷過客戶 - 有些客戶溜走了，客戶很容易在 [T-VEC] 週期中遇到問題並移出 6 個月，這將創造一個開放的機會。因此，我們永遠不會對客戶說不，儘管清單基本上已滿，但這並不意味著全年不會有機會。所以，是的，我們始終自行決定。

And then last one for me. Just on Neutron, can you just spend a few minutes talking about your current views on the demand outlook for that vehicle? And when in its development cycle, would you expect maybe to get your first order or 2 is kind of proving out the concept of what you're doing here? And then demand is as good as you think it might be. I'm just trying to balance that against the comment that we're going to bootstrap capacity there. Why aren't we running out and trying to fulfill as much demand as possible. So, just kind of a general view of the current demand environment for Neutron when we might expect orders? And what kind of levers can you pull to more quickly come in and pull in some of that demand if you think it's really strong.

然後是我的最後一張。就 Neutron 而言，您能花幾分鐘談談您目前對該車輛需求前景的看法嗎？在開發週期中，您是否期望獲得第一個或第二個訂單，以證明您在這裡所做的事情的概念？然後需求就會像你想像的那麼好。我只是試圖平衡這一點與我們將在那裡引導容量的評論。我們為什麼不耗盡並盡力滿足盡可能多的需求。那麼，這只是對 Neutron 當前需求環境的整體看法，我們可能會收到訂單嗎？如果您認為這種需求確實很強勁，您可以使用什麼樣的槓桿來更快地介入並拉動其中一些需求。

Yes. That's a great question, Jason. So look, on the order side, until a vehicle is kind of proven and flying, any launch contract that you can sign is basically worthless. We can go and sign a launch contract tomorrow with a number of customers that will be like some $1,000 dollars down and cancelable any time. But that really doesn't mean anything. And the one thing that you will always get from us is like real backlogs and real numbers. So, it's almost a pointless try to sign something like that now. And then even if you do, we saw this with Electron, right, an unproven vehicle, you just take a massive haircut. So, you have to do really low introductory pricing. And with Electron, we carried some of that introductory pricing on for years and we managed to flush it out this year, but for years, we had some really bad missions. So, I just don't want to go down that road again.

是的。這是一個很好的問題，傑森。因此，從訂單方面來看，在車輛經過驗證並飛行之前，您可以簽署的任何發射合約基本上都是毫無價值的。明天我們可以去和一些客戶簽訂一份啟動合同，大約需要 1,000 美元的首付，並且可以隨時取消。但這確實沒有任何意義。您永遠可以從我們這裡得到的一件事就是真實的積壓訂單和真實的數字。所以，現在嘗試簽署類似的協議幾乎是毫無意義的。即使你這樣做了，我們也看到了 Electron 的情況，對吧，這是一種未經驗證的車輛，你只需進行一次大規模的剪髮即可。所以，你必須實行非常低的介紹定價。對於 Electron，我們多年來一直堅持一些介紹性定價，今年我們設法將其淘汰，但多年來，我們遇到了一些非常糟糕的任務。所以，我只是不想再走那條路了。

But rather, when you have a flight-proven product that in a launch constrained market, then it becomes very valuable. So, I'd much rather arrive to the market with something that works that commands a premium, then fully manifest up with a whole bunch of low-value launches now. And frankly, the customers that we talk to aren't looking to buy 1 or 2 launches, they're looking to buy quite a bit of capacity to fill the constellation or their other needs. So, we also need to see them delivering and being on time at the pad because if you commit to one customer and commit a whole launch of manifest and be late then -- and that's not a happy situation either.

相反，當你在發射受限的市場中擁有經過飛行驗證的產品時，它就變得非常有價值。因此，我更願意帶著一些能帶來溢價的產品進入市場，然後透過一大堆低價值的產品來充分體現。坦白說，我們採訪的客戶並不打算購買一兩次發射，他們希望購買相當多的容量來滿足星座或其他需求。因此，我們還需要看到他們按時交付並準時到達，因為如果您向一個客戶承諾並承諾一整套清單的發布，然後遲到了 - 這也不是一個令人高興的情況。

So, when we kind of reached a point of critical maturity such that somebody is willing to pay real deposits and write real contracts then that's a good time and you'll see those kind of announcements from us. But until then, I just don't want to put us in a position where we've just got a whole bunch of rubbish, unkind of solidified launch on a manifest that might look good in a slide, but actually isn't that real.

因此，當我們達到了一個關鍵的成熟點，以至於有人願意支付真實的存款並簽訂真實的合約時，那就是一個好時機，你會看到我們發出的此類公告。但在那之前，我只是不想讓我們陷入這樣的境地：我們在清單上看到了一大堆垃圾、不友善的固化發射，在幻燈片中看起來不錯，但實際上並不那麼真實。 。

And then on the kind of the bootstrapping, why not go out and just prepare for a massive volume. Look, I think I'd love to do that, that would be awesome. But the reality is that the launch vehicles they're easier to build than a small launch vehicle, but the challenges they just consume a huge amount of capital. And we have to be diligent in the fact to use the capital we have wisely and kind of use it methodically to make sure that we actually put a vehicle on the pad and we're able to scale it in a really safe and methodical sense. If you had no constraints on capital, then, of course, you go and build big factories and to pads and where you would go, but it's not really -- it's really an option and nor is it really our style. So, we like to put one on the pad, then we'll work through the block upgrades and improvements that inevitably will happen and then slowly ramp production over the coming years to meet demand.

然後在引導方面，為什麼不出去並為大量的交易做好準備。聽著，我想我很樂意這樣做，那真是太棒了。但現實情況是，他們的運載火箭比小型運載火箭更容易建造，但他們所面臨的挑戰消耗了大量的資金。事實上，我們必須勤奮地明智地使用我們擁有的資本，並有條不紊地使用它，以確保我們真正將車輛放在墊上，並且我們能夠以真正安全和有條理的方式擴展它。如果你對資本沒有限制，那麼，當然，你可以去建造大型工廠和基地以及你想去的地方，但這不是真正的——這確實是一種選擇，也不是我們真正的風格。因此，我們喜歡在墊上放一個，然後我們將不可避免地進行區塊升級和改進，然後在未來幾年慢慢提高產量以滿足需求。

Your next question comes from the line of Kristine Liwag with Morgan Stanley.

您的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的克里斯汀·利瓦格 (Kristine Liwag)。

Peter, following up on Jason's question there on the Neutron order. So, it sounds like you don't anticipate orders to occur until after Neutron has its first flight. Is that fair?

彼得，跟進傑森關於中子訂單的問題。因此，聽起來您預計在 Neutron 首次飛行之前不會出現訂單。這樣公平嗎？

Kristine, no, that they could occur earlier. But I guess what I'm saying is that the 2 things need to be true that we need to be -- have confidence that the spacecraft will be delivered and they need to have confidence in us. And at this stage of the development program, as I mentioned before, there's still a number of critical milestones to go through. So, I wouldn't expect anybody to put huge deposits down on a vehicle in this kind of stage development. And I think that's just the reality.

克里斯汀，不，他們可能會更早發生。但我想我想說的是，我們需要做到兩件事：對太空船將被交付有信心，他們需要對我們有信心。正如我之前提到的，在開發計畫的現階段，仍有許多關鍵的里程碑需要經歷。因此，我不希望有人在這種階段開發的車輛上投入巨額額定金。我認為這就是現實。

So, I guess another way to think about it is it sounds like you guys are prioritizing better pricing in the long term at the expense of building a backlog now and providing significant discounts, which could take years to offset. So, if you're confident in your product just wait till after launch is better pricing.

所以，我想另一種思考方式是，聽起來你們優先考慮的是長期更好的定價，而代價是現在積壓訂單並提供大幅折扣，這可能需要數年時間才能抵消。因此，如果您對自己的產品有信心，請等到發布後定價會更好。

Absolutely.

絕對地。

Sorry, go ahead.

抱歉，請繼續。

Well, I lived through that with Electron, right? And those contracts can just be really painful to flush out of the system. And there's no argument that there's going to be huge demand and there is huge demand, zero argument about that. So as I mentioned before, like the smart thing to do is arrive with a flight-proven product and not have to do kind of crazy things with pricing and destroy the business model over it.

嗯，我在 Electron 中就經歷過這樣的事情，對吧？這些合約從系統中清除可能會非常痛苦。毫無疑問，將會有巨大的需求，而且確實存在巨大的需求，對此零爭論。正如我之前提到的，明智的做法是推出經過飛行驗證的產品，而不必在定價方面做一些瘋狂的事情並破壞其商業模式。

And maybe moving to Space Systems. It sounds like your Globalstar contract through MDA as a subcontractor has been progressing well. MDA recently won a $2 billion Telesat LEO contract. How much of an opportunity is there for you to be a subcontract to that program or similar programs of that size gives us pretty meaningful constellation size?

也許會轉向太空系統。聽起來您作為分包商透過 MDA 簽訂的 Globalstar 合約進展順利。 MDA 最近贏得了價值 20 億美元的 Telesat LEO 合約。您有多少機會成為該專案或該規模的類似專案的分包商，從而為我們帶來相當有意義的星座規模？

Look, I can't really comment on that program in particular. But what I will say is we actively are pursuing these -- many of these large programs, both as contractors and also as primes. So yes, I mean, there's a real opportunity for us. There, obviously, the large volume, but also the constraint on some of those critical components like solar is a huge constraint within the space industry right now. And we obviously own 1 of 3 suppliers of that particular technology in the world. So yes, we see a lot of opportunity there and we're actively and aggressively pursuing these large constellations as, like I say, as a supplier and as a prime.

聽著，我無法具體評論該計劃。但我要說的是，我們正在積極追求這些——許多大型項目，無論是作為承包商還是主要項目。所以，是的，我的意思是，我們確實有一個機會。顯然，體積大，而且對太陽能等一些關鍵部件的限制是目前航太工業中的一個巨大限制。顯然，我們擁有世界上該特定技術的三個供應商之一。所以，是的，我們在那裡看到了很多機會，我們正在積極、積極地追求這些大型星座，就像我說的那樣，作為供應商和主要供應商。

And if I could ask one last one. You mentioned SolAero, with SolAero, where are margins trending in the quarter? And can you provide any update on your tracking towards the 30% gross margin target for that business?

如果我可以問最後一個問題的話。您提到了 SolAero，SolAero 本季的利潤率趨勢如何？您能否提供有關該業務 30% 毛利率目標追蹤情況的最新資訊？

So, we've made very good progress towards our gross margin goals for that business. We said that 2 years post acquisition, we wanted to be at 30 points of non-GAAP gross margin. I think we're going to trail that by -- I think, by maybe a couple of quarters, but the progression has been pretty clear and pretty steady. And we can definitely -- well, we've made improvements to get better margin on the existing backlog that's in place when we acquired the company. But I would say in the course of the last year in particular, we've got a pretty stringent process for improving new customer deals.

因此，我們在實現該業務的毛利率目標方面取得了很大進展。我們說過，收購後 2 年，我們希望非 GAAP 毛利率達到 30 個百分點。我認為我們將落後——我想，可能落後幾個季度，但進展非常明確且相當穩定。我們絕對可以——嗯，我們已經做出了改進，以便在我們收購該公司時現有的積壓訂單上獲得更好的利潤。但我想說，特別是在去年，我們有一個非常嚴格的流程來改善新客戶交易。

And I don't believe that we've really seen -- I can't recall the last time that we approved a deal that was below that 30% gross margin target. In fact, we're kind of tying with how to start pushing that target a little bit further north from that because long term, that's not our goal to be at 30 points. We view that as having a great opportunity for really healthy long-term margins. But great progress towards the 30 points. I think we're going to hit that at some point in 2024. And again, all of our kind of building backlog is 100% supportive of that.

我不相信我們真的看過——我不記得上次我們批准低於 30% 毛利率目標的交易是什麼時候了。事實上，我們正​​在考慮如何開始將目標進一步向北推進，因為從長遠來看，這不是我們達到 30 分的目標。我們認為這是獲得真正健康的長期利潤的絕佳機會。但距離30分已經有了很大的進步。我認為我們將在 2024 年的某個時候實現這一目標。同樣，我們所有的建設積壓工作都 100% 支持這一點。

Your next question comes from the line of Ronald Epstein with Bank of America.

你的下一個問題來自美國銀行的羅納德‧愛潑斯坦 (Ronald Epstein)。

A lot's been asked. I'm the last guy. So, I'll be quick because I guess we're running over on time. But here's a question for you. I mean a lot of the space start-up companies have been having difficulty. And you guys were able to pick up some interesting assets from Virgin Orbit. When you look at the Space Systems business, is there a talent you can pick up in the satellite world in terms of engineers and other things? I mean some of the small satellite companies, their stocks are trading below the equity is trading below $1 per share. And it's -- I would imagine it must be a pretty good environment to recruit talent in. I don't know if you can speak to that, but as you try to grow that business, are you able to pick up some talent?

被問了很多。我是最後一個人。所以，我會很快，因為我​​想我們已經準時了。但這裡有個問題想問你。我的意思是很多太空新創公司都遇到了困難。你們能夠從維珍軌道獲得一些有趣的資產。當您審視太空系統業務時，您是否可以在衛星世界中找到工程師和其他方面的人才？我的意思是一些小型衛星公司，他們的股票交易價格低於每股 1 美元。我想這一定是一個非常好的招募人才的環境。我不知道你是否可以談論這一點，但是當你試圖發展這項業務時，你能找到一些人才嗎？

Yes, Ron, absolutely, that is true. And great talent attracts great talent as well. And the team that we've built there is, it's simply awesome. So that's been true. What I will say though is I think we mentioned before the bar to get into Rocket Lab is extraordinarily high. I mean it's twice as hard -- we did the metrics and it's twice as hard to get into Rocket Lab than it is to get into Harvard. So we're very, very fussy about the folks that we bring onboard. But certainly, there's opportunities there for new folks as some of those other businesses fail.

是的，羅恩，絕對是這樣。優秀的人才也會吸引優秀的人才。我們在那裡建立的團隊非常棒。所以這是真的。但我要說的是，我認為我們之前提到進入火箭實驗室的門檻非常高。我的意思是，進入火箭實驗室的難度是進入哈佛大學的兩倍——我們進行了衡量。所以我們對我們帶入的人員非常非常挑剔。但當然，隨著其他一些企業的失敗，新人也有機會。

And then maybe just following up on Neutron because this came up a couple of times in some of your other questions. What are some of the milestones we should be looking for? As we look out into next year as kind of outsiders, not inside the company, what boxes can we check and say, hey, yes, it's trucking right along to feel good about where the program is going.

然後也許只是跟進 Neutron，因為這在您的其他一些問題中出現了幾次。我們應該尋找哪些里程碑？當我們作為局外人而不是公司內部人士展望明年時，我們可以檢查哪些方框並說，嘿，是的，它正在一路行駛，讓我們對專案的進展感到滿意。

I presume you're talking about Neutron hereon?

我想你在這裡談論的是中子？

Yes, excuse me, yes, Neutron.

是的，對不起，是的，中子。

Yes. So, we've kind of laid out a few -- I mean, obviously, engines always a long pole in the tent. So, look for hot fires and kind of completions of all programs and things like that. We achieved probably it's understated, but the second stage tank test was a huge milestone because although it just kind of looks like a big black thing that we filled and made frosty and then blew it up. The reality is that, that validated like so many material properties, so many manufacturing processes, so much of the kind of core underlying materials and technology and designs are all validated by that test and by that milestone.

是的。所以，我們已經佈置了一些——我的意思是，顯然，引擎總是帳篷裡的一根長桿。因此，尋找熱火和所有計劃的完成情況以及類似的事情。我們的成就可能被低估了，但第二階段坦克測試是一個巨大的里程碑，因為儘管它看起來像一個大的黑色東西，我們填充並使其結霜，然後將其炸毀。現實情況是，像如此多的材料特性、如此多的製造流程、如此多的核心基礎材料、技術和設計都經過了該測試和該里程碑的驗證。

So, it's kind of, sometimes it's kind of a little bit difficult. And then I tried this earnings to give some color about some of the other tests that are going on. And there's just heaps and heaps going on and so many tests and milestones met every day that it's kind of hard to get them all on paper. But I mean, the key ones is fire and then fire reliably out of Archimedes and continued Neutron structures, keep looking for things that get frosty because that's important milestones. And then I would say next year is start to look for stuff coming out of the ground, start to watch us pour concrete and things like that because the vehicle drives the ground of the structure enormously. So, if the vehicle is mature, then the ground infrastructure can start to be built. So, they sort of go hand in hand and one leads the other. So, if they're starting to pour concrete, then I would feel good and stuff like that.

所以，有時有點困難。然後我嘗試通過這份收益來為正在進行的其他一些測試提供一些資訊。每天都有大量的測試和里程碑發生，以至於很難將它們全部記錄在紙上。但我的意思是，關鍵是火，然後從阿基米德和持續的中子結構中可靠地發射，繼續尋找結霜的東西，因為這是重要的里程碑。然後我想說明年將開始尋找從地下出來的東西，開始觀察我們澆築混凝土之類的東西，因為車輛極大地驅動了結構的地面。所以，如果車輛成熟了，那麼地面基礎設施就可以開始建造了。因此，它們是齊頭並進的，一個領導另一個。所以，如果他們開始澆築混凝土，那麼我會感覺很好等等。

Our next question comes from the line of Andres Sheppard with Cantor Fitzgerald.

我們的下一個問題來自安德烈斯·謝潑德和康托·菲茨杰拉德的台詞。

I appreciate you guys getting us in and congratulations on the quarter. Most of our questions have been asked. So, maybe just one 2-part question. First, with the roughly $400 million in cash and equivalents, would you mind just reminding us what is the expected run rate there? And then secondly, is -- you provided the revenue guidance for Q1 as well as your updated backlog with 57% of that backlog being recognized in the first 12 months. Can you give us any sort of ideas or direction on how we should be thinking about that backlog being recognized in terms of seasonality or second half, first half? Any color there that you might be able to give us?

我感謝你們讓我們加入並祝賀這個季度。我們的大部分問題都被問到了。所以，也許只是一個由兩個部分組成的問題。首先，對於大約 4 億美元的現金和等價物，您介意提醒我們那裡的預期運行率是多少嗎？其次，您提供了第一季的收入指導以及更新的積壓訂單，其中 57% 的積壓訂單在前 12 個月內得到了確認。您能否給我們一些想法或方向，說明我們應該如何考慮根據季節性或下半年、上半年來認識積壓單？您能給我們什麼顏色嗎？

Andres, I'll take the first one and Pete can kind of chime in, in the second. But with the cash, we talked about the fact that we're -- 2024 from our base systems business should be a much more cash positive story for us. The nature of the biggest program, which was MDA Globalstar, had a bunch of unique and quite honestly, onerous terms when it came to timing about us getting paid. We've now kind of crossed the river on that one, if you will, and we're on the better side of that as we now again, move into the AIT phase.

安德烈斯，我會選第一個，皮特可以插話，第二個。但有了現金，我們談到了這樣一個事實：到 2024 年，我們的基礎系統業務對我們來說應該是一個更現金積極的故事。最大的項目 MDA Globalstar 的本質是，在我們獲得報酬的時間方面有一系列獨特且相當誠實、繁重的條款。如果你願意的話，我們現在已經在這方面渡過了河，而且我們現在處於更好的一邊，因為我們現在再次進入 AIT 階段。

So, we believe we've got sufficient liquidity to do exactly what we said we were going to do when we came public, which is that we want to broaden out our Space Systems business. We've acquired 3 businesses since becoming public. We've also committed to getting -- having up capital get to the Neutron product the pad. That's also well within the scope of what we've called out. But what I would say is that we still have a significant amount of capital to consume in getting Neutron to the pad by the end of next year.

因此，我們相信我們有足夠的流動性來完成我們上市時所說的要做的事情，即我們希望擴大我們的空間系統業務。自上市以來，我們已經收購了 3 家企業。我們也致力於為 Neutron 產品提供資金。這也完全在我們呼籲的範圍之內。但我想說的是，我們仍然需要消耗大量資金才能在明年年底前將 Neutron 送到發射台。

Now again, we're well funded to do that. The timing of that is a little bit difficult to predict because as Pete's kind of gone through some of the milestones and these programs, they can be -- they can move around a bit. There's different ways to kind of get there, kind of the -- there's some make versus buy decisions that take place that can affect how much cash flows out the door. So, I would say that it's difficult to predict and also going to be dependent upon other business that we close as we progress through the remainder of 2023 and '24 and what those cash [metrics] look like.

現在，我們有充足的資金來做到這一點。這個時間點有點難以預測，因為隨著皮特經歷了一些里程碑和這些項目，它們可以——它們可以稍微移動。有不同的方法可以實現這一目標，有些自製與購買的決策可能會影響流出的現金流量。因此，我想說，這很難預測，而且還取決於我們在 2023 年剩餘時間和 24 年的進展中關閉的其他業務以及這些現金[指標]的情況。

But right now, I would say that our Q3 cash consumption number was kind of a high point that we've seen thus far, that could hover around in that range for a quarter or so, but then we start to see that significantly trend down as we get past these key milestones and Neutron gets closer and closer and closer to pad. The biggest factor right now in 2024 is really going to be progress towards those Neutron milestones from a developer perspective and also from an infrastructure perspective, as Pete mentioned. But again, we don't have any concerns right now that we -- that we don't have the runway to get to where we need to go.

但現在，我想說，我們第三季的現金消費數字是迄今為止我們所看到的一個高點，可能會在這個範圍內徘徊一個季度左右，但隨後我們開始看到這種顯著下降的趨勢當我們越過這些關鍵里程碑時，Neutron 離 pad 越來越近了。正如 Pete 所提到的，2024 年最重要的因素實際上是從開發人員的角度和基礎設施的角度來看 Neutron 里程碑的進展。但同樣，我們現在不擔心我們沒有跑道到達我們需要去的地方。

As far as the backlog and how that's going to be realized and seasonality and so forth, we don't really have a lot of view on seasonality. We haven't seen kind of true seasonality in our business. We've seen a lot of volatility, which has really been more a function for what we can tell from some of our smaller customers, it's the access to funding, either through their government partner programs, whether it's through VC cycles and kind of the success in raising funds and so forth. So, we really see more effect on revenue as our customers kind of go through their kind of cash, kind of rich and cash core cycles. But again, I think that what you'll see is we've gone through an elevated quarter, we'll probably have another couple of elevated quarters before it starts to get much better and we start to, again, let's say, not consume as much cash as we have, again, a function of programs where we are in their life cycles and just Neutron developments.

至於積壓、如何實現以及季節性等等，我們對季節性並沒有太多看法。我們的業務還沒有看到真正的季節性。我們看到了很大的波動性，這實際上更多是我們從一些較小的客戶那裡可以看出的一個功能，它是獲得資金的管道，無論是透過他們的政府合作夥伴計劃，無論是透過創投週期還是某種形式成功籌集資金等。因此，當我們的客戶經歷他們的現金、富裕和現金核心週期時，我們確實看到了對收入的更大影響。但我想你會看到的是，我們已經經歷了一個較高的季度，在情況開始好轉之前，我們可能會再經歷幾個較高的季度，並且我們再次開始不消費我們擁有多少現金，再次取決於我們所處的專案的生命週期和中子開發。

Congratulations on the quarter.

恭喜本季。

Your next question comes from the line of Erik Rasmussen with Stifel.

您的下一個問題來自 Erik Rasmussen 和 Stifel。

Maybe just on the HASTE rocket. You said you secured 7 missions in the past 6 months. Does this change the number of missions that you had previously thought you would do? I mean, you've seen things accelerating?

也許就在 HASTE 火箭上。你說你在過去 6 個月完成了 7 項任務。這是否會改變您之前認為要做的任務數量？我的意思是，你看到事情正在加速發展嗎？

Yes. I mean, we always knew that there was demand for this product, but I would say that we're pleasantly surprised to see the demand grow the way it's growing. That first flight was an important one to demonstrate the capability. There's a bit of I would say, hysteresis in the way government customers move to new kind of products like this. And that was all kind of dissolved with a very successful flight. So, we're kind of reaping the benefits of that. And the vehicle is just able to do a bunch of stuff that has been inaccessible before being a liquid throttleable vehicle. So, it really opens the aperture for what can be done and development of systems that really in some places, in some respects can't be developed anywhere else in the world. So, it's -- so we're pleasantly surprised to see the pick up on the program.

是的。我的意思是，我們一直都知道這種產品有需求，但我想說的是，我們很驚訝地看到需求以這種方式成長。第一次飛行是展現這種能力的重要一次。我想說，政府客戶轉向此類新型產品的方式存在著一定的滯後性。一次非常成功的飛行使這一切都煙消雲散了。所以，我們正在收穫其中的好處。而且該車輛能夠完成許多在成為液體節流車輛之前無法完成的任務。因此，它確實為可以做的事情和開發系統打開了大門，而這些系統在某些地方、某些方面確實在世界其他任何地方都無法開發。所以，我們很驚訝地看到該計劃的進展。

And maybe just -- you made an announcement, you opened up the -- an Engine Development Center in the former Virgin Orbit assets facility. What sort of production capacity can you expect to achieve once operational? And what is the time line to maybe hit that, maybe call it an annual run rate?

也許只是——你發布了一個公告，你在前維珍軌道資產設施中開設了一個發動機開發中心。一旦投入運營，您預計將達到什麼樣的產能？達到這個目標的時間線是多少，或稱為年度運行率？

Yes. Look, the Virgin Orbit facility was a bit of a boon really because there is more equipment and capacity there than we can see in the future for an engine facility. It's gold-plated. So yes, I mean there's no numbers that we're working with at the moment that would see that EDC facility reach capacity.

是的。看，維珍軌道設施確實有點福音，因為那裡的設備和容量比我們未來看到的引擎設施要多。是鍍金的。所以，是的，我的意思是，目前我們正在處理的數據無法表明 EDC 設施已達到容量。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Peter Beck for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，目前沒有其他問題了。現在，我將把電話轉回給彼得貝克 (Peter Beck) 作結束語。請繼續。

Okay. That wraps today's presentation. Thank you, everyone for joining us for the call. Rocket Lab will be participating in some upcoming conferences displayed on the sheet there and look forward to the opportunity to share more exciting news and updates with you then. Thanks again, and we look forward to speaking to you soon.

好的。今天的演示就到此結束。謝謝大家加入我們的電話會議。 Rocket Lab 將參加表格中顯示的一些即將舉行的會議，並期待有機會與您分享更多令人興奮的新聞和更新。再次感謝，我們期待盡快與您交談。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining and you may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入，現在您可以斷開線路了。