Rocket Lab Corp (RKLB) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day. My name is Ellie and I will be your conference operator for today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Rocket Lab fourth-quarter 2023 financial results update and conference call. (Operator Instructions)

再會。我叫艾莉，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 Rocket Lab 2023 年第四季財務業績更新和電話會議。（操作員指令）

Thank you. I'd now like to introduce to the call Colin Canfield, Head of Investment and Relations. Colin, you may now begin.

謝謝。現在我想向大家介紹投資與關係主管 Colin Canfield。科林，你現在可以開始了。

Thank you. Hello, everyone. We're glad to have you join us for today's conference call to discuss Rocket Lab's fourth-quarter and full year 2023 financial results.

謝謝。大家好。我們很高興您參加今天的電話會議，討論 Rocket Lab 的 2023 年第四季和全年財務表現。

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 liability established by the 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 Security 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.

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。這些聲明旨在符合《私人證券訴訟改革法》所設立的安全港責任保障。任何此類聲明都不能保證未來的業績，今天的新聞稿中重點介紹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。這些聲明是基於公司截至本文發布之日掌握的信息，可能會因未來發展而改變。除法律要求外，本公司不承擔更新這些聲明的任何義務。

Our remarks and press release today also contain non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G enacted by the SEC. Included in such release and our supplemental materials are reconciliations of these historical non-GAAP financial measures to comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

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 G 規則所定義的非公認會計準則財務指標。本新聞稿和我們的補充資料中包含了這些歷史非 GAAP 財務指標與根據 GAAP 計算的可比較財務指標的對帳。

This call is also being webcast with a supporting presentation and a replay and copy of the presentation will be available on our website.

本次電話會議還將進行網路直播，並附有支援性演示文稿，重播和簡報副本將在我們的網站上提供。

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.

今天的演講者是 Rocket Lab 創辦人兼執行長 Peter Beck 和財務長 Adam Spice。在我們準備好評論之後，我們將回答問題。

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

現在，我將把電話轉給貝克先生。

Yeah, thanks, Colin. So we've got a lot of great achievements and milestones to share across Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. Adam will then talk through our financial results for the fourth quarter before covering the financial outlook for Q1 2024. After that, we'll take questions and finish today's call with near-term conferences that we'll be attending.

是的，謝謝，科林。因此，我們在 2023 年第四季和 2024 年第一季有很多偉大的成就和里程碑可以分享。然後，亞當將介紹我們第四季的財務業績，然後介紹 2024 年第一季的財務前景。之後，我們將回答問題，並以我們將要參加的近期會議結束今天的電話會議。

Okay, on to what we achieved in the fourth quarter for the year, starting with our launch business. So we had a successful return to flight in Q4. We rounded out 2023 with that flight, successfully deploying a satellite for a Japanese customer IQPS. This launch marked the conclusion of an in-depth round-the-clock investigation that got to the bottom of the issue we'd experienced on the previous launch. With mitigations now in place for future missions, we're starting to pick up the launch pace for this year.

好的，首先從我們的發布業務開始，談談我們今年第四季的成就。因此我們在第四季成功恢復飛行。我們透過那次飛行結束了 2023 年的旅程，成功地為日本客戶 IQPS 部署了一顆衛星。這次發布標誌著我們對上次發佈時遇到的問題進行了深入的全天候調查並最終查明真相。隨著針對未來任務的緩解措施逐步到位，我們今年的發射速度將開始加快。

In Q4, we also hit a new annual launch record, ending the year with 10 launches, besting our previous record of 9. Not only did we reach this record, but we also commenced launches from our US launch site, introduced and launched our HASTE suborbital hypersonic vehicle for the first time, and we were the only small launch provider to launch more than one orbital mission in 2023. Overall, a strong year for the Electron team with plenty of firsts and new records, and we look forward to building on that this year.

在第四季度，我們還創下了新的年度發射記錄，全年共發射 10 次，打破了先前 9 次的記錄。我們不僅創下了這項紀錄，而且還從美國發射場開始發射，首次推出並發射了我們的 HASTE 亞軌道高超音速飛行器，而且我們是唯一一家在 2023 年發射多個軌道任務的小型發射提供者。總的來說，對於 Electron 團隊來說，這是強勁的一年，創造了許多第一和新紀錄，我們期待今年能在此基礎上再接再厲。

With the end of the fourth quarter, we wrapped up a record year of another kind, this time for new launch deals. We signed 25 new launch contracts in 2023, including 18 Electron missions and seven HASTE missions. Contracts were signed across a diverse customer base, including civil, defense, and national security and government customers, as well as commercial constellation operators. Clearly, demand for Electron is strong and continues to grow. With two launch sites now up and running, we're well positioned to meaningfully increase our launch cadence this year.

隨著第四季的結束，我們結束了另一個創紀錄的一年，這次是新推出的交易創下了歷史新高。我們在 2023 年簽署了 25 份新的發射合同，其中包括 18 次電子任務和 7 次 HASTE 任務。簽署合約的客戶群多種多樣，包括民用、國防、國家安全和政府客戶，以及商業星座營運商。顯然，對 Electron 的需求強勁且持續成長。現在兩個發射場已經投入運營，我們有能力大幅提高今年的發射節奏。

We'll dig into some more Electron achievements since the end of Q4 soon, as well as some key Neutron milestones. But first, let's take a look at some of the key highlights from our space systems business across the final quarter of 2023.

我們很快就會深入了解自第四季末以來 Electron 取得的更多成就，以及 Neutron 的一些關鍵里程碑。但首先，讓我們來看看 2023 年最後一個季度我們的空間系統業務的一些主要亮點。

Well, we closed out 2023 and we secured a contract that started a new era for Rocket Lab, and that is the era of being a prime contractor. We were selected by the Space Development Agency to design and build 18 spacecraft for the agency's trench to transport lab. As prime contractor for the approximately $0.5 billion contract, we are leading the design, development, production, test, and operations of the satellites, including procurement and integration of the payload and subsystems. It's our largest single contract to date and establishes Rocket Lab's position as a leading satellite prime contractor, providing supply chain diversity to the Department of Defense.

好吧，我們結束了 2023 年的旅程，並簽訂了一份合同，這為 Rocket Lab 開啟了一個新時代，那就是我們成為總承包商的時代。我們被太空發展局選中，為該機構的海溝運輸實驗室設計和建造 18 艘太空船。作為這份價值約 5 億美元合約的主承包商，我們負責領導衛星的設計、開發、生產、測試和運營，包括有效載荷和子系統的採購和整合。這是我們迄今為止最大的單筆合同，確立了 Rocket Lab 作為領先衛星主承包商的地位，為國防部提供了供應鏈多樣性。

All 18 satellites will integrate subsystems and components built in-house by our team, including solar panels, structures, star trackers, reaction wheels, radios, flight software, avionics, and for the first time, a launch dispenser. This is a vertical integration strategy at work and it gives us a real level of control over supply chain, enabling efficiencies on certainty, on cost, and schedule and quality, of course.

所有 18 顆衛星都將整合我們團隊內部建構的子系統和組件，包括太陽能電池板、結構、星追蹤器、反作用輪、無線電、飛行軟體、航空電子設備，以及首次出現的發射分配器。這是一種垂直整合策略，它使我們對供應鏈有了真正的控制，當然也提高了確定性、成本、進度和品質的效率。

Of course, the SBA contract is not the only spacecraft constellation we have in development build. Our space systems team rounded out Q4 and the start of Q1 with some key milestones in development of our constellation for Globalstar. We're now officially progressing from the design phase into production, with the first flight frames and build for the constellation of 17 spacecraft.

當然，SBA 合約並不是我們正在開發建造的唯一太空船星座。我們的太空系統團隊在第四季和第一季初在全球星星座開發中取得了一些關鍵里程碑。目前，我們已正式從設計階段進入生產階段，並已完成 17 艘太空船的首批飛行框架和建造工作。

Simultaneously, our spacecraft component teams are getting to work on their subsystems, including solar panels, flight software, and so on. This constellation is still in the early phase, but we're making rapid progress ahead of the 2025 launch schedule.

同時，我們的太空船組件團隊正在開始研究它們的子系統，包括太陽能電池板、飛行軟體等。該星座仍處於早期階段，但我們正在快速推進 2025 年發射計畫。

Now onto a mission scheduled to launch much sooner than that, our escapade mission for NASA and the University of California, Berkeley. We're building two spacecraft headed to Mars orbit via Blue Origin launch, scheduled for Q3 this year. In recent months, we've completed both propulsion decks, started environmental testing, and getting ready for ground operations at the launch site in preparation for launch. After a successful mission to the moon for NASA in 2022, we're looking forward to pushing the boundaries of even more in this highly ambitious space science mission.

現在我們要開始執行一項計劃更早發射的任務，這是我們為美國國家航空暨太空總署和加州大學柏克萊分校執行的冒險任務。我們正在建造兩艘太空船，透過藍色起源發射進入火星軌道，計劃於今年第三季發射。最近幾個月，我們已經完成了兩個推進甲板，開始了環境測試，並為發射場的地面操作做好了發射的準備。繼 2022 年美國太空總署成功完成月球任務後，我們期待在這項雄心勃勃的太空科學任務中突破更多界限。

That's just a quick overview of some of the key highlights across Q4 and broader 2023. There's plenty more we could have shared, but in the interest of time, let's move on to some of the exciting progress and achievements so far in Q1.

這只是第四季度及 2023 年一些主要亮點的簡要概述。我們還有很多內容可以分享，但出於時間考慮，讓我們先來談談第一季迄今為止的一些令人興奮的進展和成就。

Okay, Neutron's path to first flight. So there's more green across the board, which is what we always like to see, with Neutron team delivering on some key milestones at the end of last year and early 2024. But let's dive into some of the details.

好的，中子首次飛行的路徑。因此，整體情況更加樂觀，這正是我們一直希望看到的，Neutron 團隊在去年年底和 2024 年初實現了一些關鍵的里程碑。但讓我們深入探討一些細節。

So with Neutron vehicle development, we've hit my favorite part of the development program. Real flight hardware is not only coming off the production line, but it's entering the integration test phase in preparation for first flight. The avionics team has kicked some major goals with successful hardware-in-the-loop testing for simulated flights to orbit as well as landings. This is a process where we integrate real flight software with real flight avionics and hardware to get thousands of simulated flight environments. Hardware-in-the-loop, or huddle testing as we call it, has really been a key part of Electron's success, enabling us to test like we fly on the ground. And it's exciting and great to be entering that phase for Neutron now.

因此，透過中子飛行器的開發，我們已經達到了我最喜歡的開發計畫部分。真正的飛行硬體不僅已經下線，而且還進入了整合測試階段，為首飛做準備。航空電子團隊已成功完成模擬飛行軌道和著陸的硬體在環測試，實現了一些重要目標。這是我們將真實飛行軟體與真實飛行航空電子設備和硬體結合以獲得數千個模擬飛行環境的過程。硬體在環測試（我們稱之為「小組測試」）確實是 Electron 成功的關鍵部分，它使我們能夠像在地面飛行一樣進行測試。現在 Neutron 進入這個階段是令人興奮和高興的。

We're also well into the test and validation campaign for the canards, which provide stability and steering to Neutron, particularly on re-entry and descent. We've now tested our first complete flight representative canard, drivetrain, including motion controller, software, linear actuator, and all the canard mounting hardware bearings and so on. Now this is really a big step forward for Neutron, and this represents one of the things we haven't done before, so it's great to get that behind us.

我們也已經深入鴨翼的測試和驗證階段，鴨翼為中子飛船提供穩定性和轉向，特別是在重返大氣層和下降時。我們現在已經測試了我們的第一個完整的飛行代表鴨翼、動力傳動系統，包括運動控制器、軟體、線性執行器以及所有鴨翼安裝硬體軸承等。這對 Neutron 來說確實是一大進步，這代表了我們以前從未做過的事情之一，因此能夠取得這一成就真是太好了。

On the structures side, development and production of Neutron's fairing and stage 1 and stage 2 tanks continue. Fairing molds and plugs are completed. These are some of the final steps before carbon composite flight structures start to come out of the factory. Things start to move very quickly in composites from here, so expect to see some more structures resembling a complete Neutron in coming months.

在結構方面，中子整流罩和第一級和第二級油箱的開發和生產仍在繼續。整流罩模具和插頭已完成。這些是碳複合材料飛行結構出廠前的一些最後步驟。從現在開始，複合材料的發展將變得非常迅速，因此預計在未來幾個月內會看到更多類似於完整中子的結構。

And it's been a big few months for the propulsion team bringing the Archimedes engine to life. The single element pre-print test campaign was completed. All of the engine components are complete or in final production for the first engine, and once integrated, testing is complete, we'll start to see some fire at Stennis and can move into production of those flight engines following successful test campaigns.

對於推進團隊來說，過去的幾個月對阿基米德引擎的開發至關重要。單元素預印測試活動已完成。第一台發動機的所有部件均已完成或處於最終生產階段，一旦整合並完成測試，我們將開始看到斯坦尼斯號上的一些火力，並可以在成功的測試活動後投入這些飛行發動機的生產。

And then on the launch infrastructure, Launch Complex 3 in Virginia has taken shape nicely. The team has completed initial piles and concrete foundations work for the water tower, LOx tank, and of course the launch mount. And having built three launch pads now, even though I said I'd never build another one, we're really starting to get well refined and streamlining the process to build these quickly and efficiently.

在發射基礎設施方面，維吉尼亞州 3 號發射中心已經順利建成。該團隊已完成水塔、液化石油氣儲槽以及發射架的初步打樁和混凝土基礎工作。現在我們已經建造了三個發射台，儘管我說我不會再建造另一個，但我們確實開始完善和簡化流程，以便快速有效地建造這些發射台。

One of the ways we do this is by developing lots of key infrastructure in parallel. So we don't wait until foundations to be done to start the cryotanks. We do it all concurrently, and so on and so forth for launch mount. We fabricate all those large steel structures off-site and bring them to site and install them just as soon as that foundation work is done. That's how we're able to build LC2 in the record time of just 10 months, and now with foundation work substantially underway, above ground infrastructure like the launch mount, water tower, and tanks will start to be installed across the next couple of months, ready for final integration, testing, and then of course in preparation for launch.

我們實現這一目標的方法之一是同時開發大量關鍵基礎設施。所以我們不會等到地基完工後才開始建造低溫罐。我們同時進行所有操作，以便啟動掛載。我們在場外製造所有大型鋼結構，並在基礎工作完成後立即將其運送到現場進行安裝。這就是我們能夠在創紀錄的僅 10 個月的時間內建造 LC2 的原因，現在基礎工作已基本完成，發射架、水塔和水箱等地面基礎設施將在接下來的幾個月內開始安裝，為最終的集成、測試做好準備，然後當然就是為發射做準備。

Now over to Mississippi, where our committee's test stand is ready for hot fire at NASA Stennis. All the major concrete and steel construction work is complete, and commissioning of the LOx cold flow system is underway. We're on track for the stand to support an engine by the end of March. After that we'll really start to see some fire, which will be good.

現在前往密西西比州，我們委員會的測試台已準備好在美國太空總署斯坦尼斯太空中心進行熱火試驗。所有主要混凝土和鋼結構施工工程已完工，LOx 冷流系統的調試正在進行中。我們計劃在三月底前讓支架支撐起引擎。在此之後，我們將會真正看到一些火力，這將是件好事。

And on the Neutron production infrastructure, in Q4 we announced we're establishing a space structures complex in Middle River, Maryland, in the former Lockheed Martin Vertical Launch Building. This facility will be home to the development and production of a wide range of large composite structures and products for both launch and space systems, including Neutron. Just a couple of months after taking over the building, we've readied the facility to accept and install the large-scale production equipment, including our automated fiber placement machine, which is really the key to rapid repeatable production of neutrons composite structures.

關於中子生產基礎設施，我們在第四季度宣布將在馬裡蘭州米德爾河的前洛克希德馬丁垂直發射大樓建立一個空間結構綜合體。該設施將用於開發和生產用於發射和太空系統的各種大型複合結構和產品，包括中子。接管大樓僅幾個月後，我們就準備好接受和安裝大型生產設備，包括我們的自動纖維鋪放機，這實際上是快速重複生產中子複合結構的關鍵。

So across the board we've reached some really critical milestones on our journey to the first Neutron launch over the past quarter and a bit. Now we're at the pointy end of the development program where all the hardware systems and infrastructure start to integrate, culminating in Neutron's first launch. Currently our schedule closes for this by the end of 2024, and we do have a track record for delivering programs faster than typical industry standard timelines, but we'll know more about how close to the schedule and timeline we are, and we can hold once our committee's breathes fire and we complete a couple of other major tests, so we'll have an update on that soon.

因此，在過去一個多季度裡，我們在首次中子發射的過程中已經達到了一些非常關鍵的里程碑。現在我們正處於開發計劃的最後階段，所有硬體系統和基礎設施開始集成，最終實現 Neutron 的首次發布。目前，我們的計劃將於 2024 年底結束，我們確實有比典型行業標準時間表更快地交付項目的記錄，但我們會更多地了解我們距離計劃和時間表的接近程度，並且我們可以在委員會開始工作並完成其他幾個主要測試後堅持下去，因此我們很快就會對此進行更新。

And then now back to small launch, we had a strong start to the quarter, so far with two successful Electron missions. These included a dedicated launch for Spire Global and Northstar, as well as a really complex and unique mission for AstroScale. The mission launched a satellite designed to rendezvous on orbit with an old derelict Japanese rocket stage. The purpose was to demonstrate the ability for a satellite to closely follow and monitor a non-cooperative object in space, with a view to understanding how satellites might be able to dock with pieces of space junk in the future and drag them back to Earth, and obviously reduce orbital debris and increase space sustainability.

現在回到小型發射，我們在本季度有一個強勁的開局，到目前為止已經成功完成了兩次電子發射。其中包括為 Spire Global 和 Northstar 進行的專項發射，以及為 AstroScale 進行的真正複雜而獨特的任務。這次任務發射了一顆衛星，旨在與一枚廢棄的日本火箭級在軌道上會合。其目的是展示衛星密切追蹤和監視太空中非合作物體的能力，以了解衛星未來如何與太空垃圾對接並將其拖回地球，從而顯著減少軌道碎片並提高太空永續性。

Now I don't think many people really realize just how widely ambitious and challenging that mission was for our team. It's difficult enough to rendezvous two items in space that talk to each other, like an astronaut capsule in the ISS. They're both communicating with each other and they know where everybody is, where each relevant object is.

現在，我想很多人並沒有真正意識到這個使命對我們團隊來說有多雄心勃勃、多麼具有挑戰性。在太空中讓兩個能互相對話的物體會合已經夠困難了，例如國際太空站中的太空人太空艙。它們彼此之間進行交流，知道每個人在哪裡，每個相關物體在哪裡。

But in the case of a derelict rocket stage, it offers no data on its location, speed, tumble rates, all these things you really, really need to know to approach something in space. So to put asterisk-scaled spacecraft into exactly the right place at the right time to rendezvous with the stage, a GNC team demanded highly accurate orbital insertion with tighter margins than required on just about any missions. The exact T-0 was only able to be defined a day prior to the launch and required an L-10 accuracy of only plus or minus 15 seconds. I should note that GNC team was able to deliver that accuracy to within 1.05 seconds, so 15 times better than the spec that was required.

但對於廢棄的火箭級來說，它沒有關於其位置、速度、翻滾率的數據，而這些都是你在接近太空中的物體時所真正需要知道的數據。因此，為了將星號大小的太空船在正確的時間放入正確的位置並與火箭階段會合，GNC 團隊要求高度精確的軌道插入，並且裕度比幾乎任何任務的要求都要嚴格。精確的 T-0 只能在發射前一天確定，並且要求 L-10 精度僅為正負 15 秒。我應該指出，GNC 團隊能夠在 1.05 秒內實現該精度，比所需規格高出 15 倍。

The team delivered a perfect bullseye. The spacecraft was deployed to exactly the right location and they were able to contact the spacecraft and prepare to start commissioning it with only minutes, with after minutes after launch. It's this level of tailored mission design and that simply is just not possible on rideshare missions and why demand for Electron continues to grow.

該隊完美擊中了紅心。太空船被部署到了精確的位置，發射後僅用了幾分鐘的時間，他們就能夠聯繫太空船並準備開始調試它。這種程度的客製化任務設計在共乘任務中根本不可能實現，這也是為什麼對 Electron 的需求持續成長的原因。

With two launches down, we have two more to complete this quarter, including a mission for Synspective from LC1 on March 9, UTC, followed by a dedicated launch for the National Reconnaissance Office on March 20, UTC, from LC2 in Virginia. The missions are a testament to the trust and value of our customers' place in Electron, since this will be Electron's fourth launch for Synspective and fifth launch for the NRO. It will however be our first NRO launch from US soil, so we're excited to demonstrate responsive launch capability for the DoD on two continents.

完成兩次發射後，本季度我們還有兩次發射要完成，包括 UTC 時間 3 月 9 日從 LC1 發射的 Synspective 任​​務，以及隨後於 UTC 時間 3 月 20 日從弗吉尼亞州 LC2 發射的國家偵察局專用發射。這項任務證明了客戶對 Electron 的信任和重視，因為這將是 Electron 為 Synspective 進行的第四次發射和為 NRO 進行的第五次發射。但這是我們第一次從美國本土進行 NRO 發射，因此我們很高興向國防部在兩個大洲展示響應式發射能力。

Not only did we launch two missions from Q1 so far, but we brought an Electron back too. We recovered Electron's first stage from the Spire mission in January, bringing it back for an ocean recovery. Electron's recovery process has been iterative, enabling us to make small modifications and improvements to the stage and marine recovery process without causing a slowdown on the rocket production line, enabling us to keep increasing Electron's launch cadence. Generally, a program like this would cause a lengthy pause in production to allow for design freezes and production changes, but by taking small steps on each flight, we've been able to continue delivering the launch service to our customers and the one that they rely on.

到目前為止，我們不僅從第一季開始就啟動了兩項任務，而且還帶回了 Electron。我們在一月份的 Spire 任務中回收了 Electron 的第一級，並將其帶回海洋進行回收。Electron 的回收過程是迭代的，這使我們能夠對階段和海洋回收過程進行小的修改和改進，而不會導致火箭生產線減慢，從而使我們能夠不斷提高 Electron 的發射節奏。一般來說，這樣的專案會導致生產長時間暫停，以進行設計凍結和生產變更，但透過在每次飛行中採取小步驟，我們能夠繼續為我們的客戶和他們所依賴的人提供發射服務。

Happily, this process has yielded successful results. The January mission saw Electron come back in the best condition yet. The stage is currently undergoing hydrostatic testing to determine if we're comfortable to put it back on the pad.

令人高興的是，這項進程已取得圓滿成果。在一月份的任務中，Electron 恢復了迄今為止的最佳狀態。該舞台目前正在接受靜水壓力測試，以確定我們是否可以將其放回發射台上。

The next milestone for the recovery program is to fly a mission with nine pre-flown Rutherford engines. You'll remember that we successfully relaunched a single Rutherford engine late last year, so now we're going to put all nine of them through their paces, so keep an eye out for that milestone coming.

復原計畫的下一個里程碑是使用九台預先飛行的盧瑟福引擎執行飛行任務。您可能還記得，我們​​在去年年底成功重新啟動了一台盧瑟福發動機，所以現在我們要對全部九台發動機進行全面測試，因此請密切關注這一里程碑的到來。

Right, on to some of the key highlights for our space systems since the end of Q1, and just last week we achieved a world first, successfully re-entering a capsule from orbit that was used to manufacture pharmaceutical products in space. We designed and built and operated a spacecraft for Vardar Systems Industries to host their in-space manufacturing capsule. It launched in June last year. The spacecraft was initially designed to operate in orbit for around four months before being de-orbited into the Utah desert. However, lengthy delays and regulatory approvals to bring the spacecraft home meant that we ended up bringing it, we ended up on orbit for more than eight months and in a testament to both our spacecraft builders and operators that performed flawlessly for that extended duration.

好的，以下是自第一季末以來我們的太空系統的一些關鍵亮點，就在上週，我們實現了世界首創，成功將用於在太空中生產藥品的太空艙從軌道重新送入太空。我們為 Vardar Systems Industries 設計、建造並運行了一艘太空船，用於安置他們的太空製造艙。它於去年六月推出。該航天器最初設計在軌道上運行約四個月，然後脫離軌道進入猶他州沙漠。然而，由於長時間的拖延和監管部門的批准，我們最終還是把它帶回了地球，並在軌道上運行了 8 個多月，這也證明了我們的航天器建造者和運營商在這麼長的時間內表現得非常完美。

Now operating a spacecraft is one thing, but bringing it home and landing it within a tiny, designated area is quite another. A team managed 24-7 flight operations, conducted multiple engine burns and carrying out real-time trajectory calculations and adjustments to set the capsule on a course for the Utah testing and training range.

現在操作太空船是一回事，但將其帶回家並降落在一個指定的微小區域內又是另一回事。一個團隊負責全天候飛行操作，進行了多次發動機點火，並進行了即時軌跡計算和調整，以使太空艙能夠順利飛向猶他州的測試和訓練場。

The context -- the margin of error is less than 0.05%, and if an engine burn is even a fraction of a second too long or too short, you end up hundreds of miles away from your designated landing zone. This is typically the stuff of huge government programs and decades of development. The only other company to successfully re-enter a capsule from orbit for a purely commercial mission is our friends over at SpaceX, so we've joined a very elite club and on our first attempt. This mission was the first of four missions that we have booked for Varda, and the next spacecraft is built and ready for launch in the middle of the year. Excitingly, the lessons we've learned on this program are helping inform future projects, including scientific sample returns, point-to-point cargo delivery, and of course human spaceflight capability on Neutron in the future.

背景－誤差幅度小於 0.05%，如果引擎燃燒時間哪怕是短或長一瞬間，你都會離指定的著陸區數百英里遠。這通常是政府大型計劃和數十年發展的結果。另外一家成功將太空艙從軌道送入純商業任務的公司是我們的 SpaceX 朋友，因此我們加入了一個非常精英的俱樂部，並且這是我們的第一次嘗試。這次任務是我們為瓦爾達號預定的四次任務中的第一次，下一艘太空船已經建造完畢並準備在年中發射。令人興奮的是，我們在該計劃中學到的經驗教訓將有助於指導未來的項目，包括科學樣品返回、點對點貨物運送，當然還有未來中子的載人航天能力。

So on that note, before I hand it over to Adam to talk through the financial highlights and outlook, it's a fitting time to share an update on our wider spacecraft programs. In 2020, we launched our very first Rocket Lab-built satellite called Photon. It was really a defining moment for the business, a line in the sand where we became an end-to-end space company, not just a launch provider.

因此，在我將主題轉到亞當討論財務亮點和前景之前，我想先分享我們更廣泛的太空船計畫的最新進展。2020 年，我們發射了第一顆由 Rocket Lab 製造的衛星 Photon。這對公司來說確實是一個決定性的時刻，標誌著我們成為了一家端到端的太空公司，而不僅僅是發射提供者。

Since then, we've had the privilege of developing, launching, and operating spacecraft for a broad range of customers, and they've all told us the same thing. They need a reliable, highly capable spacecraft built quickly, affordably, and at scale, and we've done this.

自那時起，我們有幸為廣大客戶開發、發射和操作太空船，他們都告訴我們同樣的事情。他們需要可靠、性能強大、能夠快速、經濟、大規模建造的太空船，而我們做到了。

We've developed a spacecraft that has delivered a successful mission to the Moon for NASA. We've developed a twin spacecraft for a mission to Mars. We're building constellations of half-ton spacecraft for SDA and MDA, and of course we've proven spacecraft re-entry capability now too.

我們開發的太空船已為美國國家航空暨太空總署成功完成了月球任務。我們已經開發了一艘孿生太空船用於執行火星任務。我們正在為 SDA 和 MDA 建造半噸重的太空船星座，當然我們現在也已經證明了太空船的再入能力。

As we've delivered more and more successful spacecraft missions, demand for these spacecraft or similar variants on them has grown. So we've expanded beyond Photon to create a full family of standard spacecraft buses. So allow me to formally introduce Lightning, Pioneer, Explorer, and of course the original Photon.

隨著我們完成越來越多成功的太空船任務，對這些太空船或類似太空船的需求也隨之成長。因此，我們超越了 Photon，創建了全系列標準太空船總線。所以請容許我正式介紹 Lightning、Pioneer、Explorer，當然還有原始的 Photon。

Lightning is our newest spacecraft bus designed for a 12-year-plus orbital lifespan in LEO. It utilizes electric propulsion, delivers high power and radiation tolerance, and incorporates full redundancy in all critical subsystems. This is a 0.5-ton, 3-kilowatt bus ideal for communications, imaging, and remote sensing.

閃電號是我們最新的太空船平台，設計在低地球軌道運行的壽命超過 12 年。它採用電力推進，提供高功率和抗輻射能力，並在所有關鍵子系統中實現完全冗餘。這是一輛重達 0.5 噸、功率為 3 千瓦的公車，非常適合用於通訊、成像和遙感。

Then there's Pioneer, a highly configurable platform designed to support large payloads and unique mission profiles, including re-entry. For interplanetary missions, there's Explorer, a high delta-V spacecraft with around about 1 kilowatt of power, large propellant tanks, and precision orbit determination system, ranging transponder, and all the things you need to go into deep space. Explorer enables small spacecraft missions to planetary destinations, near-Earth objects, and Earth-Moon Lagrange points. And of course, Photon is sticking around as the original spacecraft plus launch option.

還有先鋒號，這是一個高度可配置的平台，旨在支援大型有效載荷和獨特的任務配置文件，包括重返大氣層。對於行星際任務，有探索者號，這是一艘高速度增量太空船，具有大約 1 千瓦的功率、大型推進劑箱和精確的軌道測定係統、測距應答器，以及進入深空所需的一切。探索者號可執行小型太空船前往行星目的地、近地物體和地月拉格朗日點的任務。當然，「光子」仍將作為原始太空船和發射選項存在。

Thanks to our virtual integration strategy, these spacecraft share many common components and subsystems designed and manufactured in-house by us, enabling us to deliver spacecraft quickly, affordably, and reliably using flight-proven components. Each of the spacecraft are currently on order in a range of quantities, with 40-plus satellites currently in our production backlog. So from humble beginnings with one spacecraft just four years ago to a full family of them designed to serve commercial and government partners is certainly an exciting time for our space systems business.

由於我們的虛擬整合策略，這些太空船共享許多由我們內部設計和製造的通用組件和子系統，使我們能夠使用經過飛行驗證的組件快速、經濟且可靠地交付太空船。目前，每種太空船都有一定數量的訂單，目前我們的生產積壓衛星有 40 多顆。因此，從四年前僅有一艘太空船的起步，到如今為商業和政府合作夥伴服務的整個太空船系列，這對我們的太空系統業務來說無疑是一個激動人心的時刻。

So that wraps up the key business highlights from Q4 2023 and Q1 this year so far. So from here, I'll hand over to Adam to take us through the financial updates. Over to you, Adam.

這就是迄今為止 2023 年第四季和今年第一季的主要業務亮點。所以從現在開始，我將交給亞當來向我們介紹財務更新。交給你了，亞當。

Thanks, Pete. Fourth-quarter 2023 revenue was $60 million, in line with our revised guidance provided on January 31, 2023, but below the low end of our original Q4 guidance in November, due primarily to the pushout of one of our planned fourth-quarter launches, which was due to the longer than anticipated September anomaly remediations. Fourth-quarter revenue represented a sequential decline of 11.3% due to the reduction of launches from three in Q3 to one in Q4, partially offset by continued growth in our space systems business. On a full-year basis, 2023 revenue was $244.6 million, with impressive growth of approximately 16% year on year, especially when taking into consideration the effect of September's Electron anomaly.

謝謝，皮特。2023 年第四季的收入為 6,000 萬美元，與我們在 2023 年 1 月 31 日提供的修訂指引一致，但低於我們 11 月原定的第四季度指引的低端，這主要是由於我們計劃在第四季度推出的其中一項產品被推遲，原因是 9 月份異常補救時間比預期的要長異常。第四季營收季減 11.3%，因為發射次數從第三季的三次減少到第四季的一次，但被我們太空系統業務的持續成長部分抵消。從全年來看，2023 年的收入為 2.446 億美元，年增約 16%，尤其是考慮到 9 月電子異常的影響。

Our launch services segment delivered revenue of $8.5 million in the quarter from one launch, which is above our targeted average selling price of $7.5 million and consistent with our revised guidance of $8.5 million. Our current aggregate Electron backlog reflects an average selling price of $8.1 million, and we're encouraged by a funnel of new business that is consistent with this pricing level. On a full-year basis, launch delivered revenue of $71.9 million, or an increase of 18.5% year on year.

我們的發射服務部門本季透過一次發射實現了 850 萬美元的收入，高於我們 750 萬美元的目標平均售價，與我們修訂後的 850 萬美元的預期一致。我們目前的 Electron 訂單總量反映出平均售價為 810 萬美元，與此定價水準相符的新業務讓我們感到鼓舞。從全年來看，launch 實現營收 7,190 萬美元，年增 18.5%。

Our space system segment delivered $51.5 million of revenue in the quarter, which was up 11.2% sequentially, and in line with our revised guidance of $50.5 million to $52.5 million, with sequential growth driven by our MDA satellite bus contract, as well as growth in our component businesses. On a full-year basis, space systems delivered revenue of $172.7 million, or an increase of 14.9% year on year.

我們的太空系統部門本季實現了 5,150 萬美元的收入，比上一季成長 11.2%，與我們修訂後的 5,050 萬美元至 5,250 萬美元的預期一致，環比成長主要得益於我們的 MDA 衛星平台合約以及我們零件業務的成長。全年來看，空間系統業務實現營收1.727億美元，年增14.9%。

Turning to gross margin, GAAP gross margin for the fourth quarter was 25.8%, in line with our revised guidance of 24.8% to 26.8%, while non-GAAP gross margin for the fourth quarter was 32.3%, which was in line with our revised guidance of 31.4% to 33.2%. GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin performance reflects improved mix in both our merchant component and satellite manufacturing businesses, partially offset by the effect of less overhead absorption in our launch business, due to only one Electron launch in the quarter. We ended Q4 with total production-related head count of 852, up 36 from the prior quarter.

談到毛利率，第四季的 GAAP 毛利率為 25.8%，與我們修訂後的 24.8% 至 26.8% 的指引一致，而第四季的非 GAAP 毛利率為 32.3%，與我們修訂後的 31.4% 至 33.2% 的指引一致。GAAP 和非 GAAP 毛利率表現反映了我們的商用組件和衛星製造業務組合的改善，但由於本季度僅發射了一次 Electron 衛星，發射業務的間接費用吸收減少的影響部分抵消了這一影響。截至第四季度，我們生產相關員工總數為 852 人，比上一季增加了 36 人。

Turning to backlog, we ended Q4 2023 with just over $1 billion of total backlog, with launch backlog of $248.3 million and space systems backlog of $797.8 million. Relative to where we ended 2022, total backlog was up 108% or $542.5 million, thanks primarily to the $489 million base portion of December's $515 million SDA beta award.

談到積壓訂單，截至 2023 年第四季度，我們的總積壓訂單剛超過 10 億美元，其中發射積壓訂單為 2.483 億美元，空間系統積壓訂單為 7.978 億美元。相對於 2022 年底的水平，總積壓訂單增長了 108%，即 5.425 億美元，這主要歸功於 12 月份 5.15 億美元 SDA beta 獎中的 4.89 億美元基本部分。

For space systems, backlog was up 106% year over year, or $410.4 million, again largely due to the SDA beta contract signing. In our launch services business, backlog was up over 213% on the back of multi-launch Electron deals with government and commercial partners, along with strong HASTE bookings. We expect approximately 41% of current backlog to be recognized as revenues within 12 months as we scale our work in Electron, HASTE, MDA, and other space systems projects.

對於太空系統而言，積壓訂單年增 106%，即 4.104 億美元，這很大程度上也歸功於 SDA 測試合約的簽署。在我們的發射服務業務中，由於與政府和商業夥伴達成了多項 Electron 發射交易，以及強勁的 HASTE 預訂量，積壓訂單增長了 213% 以上。隨著我們在 Electron、HASTE、MDA 和其他空間系統項目上的工作規模不斷擴大，我們預計目前積壓訂單的約 41% 將在 12 個月內確認為收入。

Turning to operating expenses in the quarter, GAAP operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2023 were $63.4 million, in line with our revised guidance of $62.5 million to $64.5 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $53.5 million, again consistent with a revised guidance of $52.5 million to $54.5 million. G

談到本季的營運費用，2023 年第四季的 GAAP 營運費用為 6,340 萬美元，符合我們修訂後的 6,250 萬美元至 6,450 萬美元的指引。非公認會計準則營業費用為 5,350 萬美元，與 5,250 萬美元至 5,450 萬美元的修訂指引一致。格

AAP operating expenditures grew 63% from the prior year fourth quarter, almost entirely within R&D, due to increases in staff costs within space systems and Neutron, as well as prototyping and materials-related expenses. Non-GAAP operating expenditures grew 95% year over year, largely due to the same reasons as above, less the effect of stock compensation expenses.

AAP 營運支出較去年同期第四季成長 63%，幾乎全部用於研發，原因是太空系統和中子部門的員工成本以及原型設計和材料相關費用增加。非公認會計準則營業支出較去年同期成長 95%，主要原因與上述相同，但減去股票薪酬費用的影響。

Now focusing on the quarter-over-quarter changes. As mentioned in the prior slide, GAAP operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2023 were $63.4 million, and non-GAAP operating expenses were $53.5 million. The increase in both GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses versus the third quarter of 2023 were primarily driven by a reduction in contra R&D credit that wrapped up in Q4 related to Neutron upper stage development from our US government partners, as well as the impact of increases in headcount and increased depreciation amortization expenses related to the recent CapEx additions.

現在重點關注季度環比變化。如前一張投影片所述，2023 年第四季的 GAAP 營運費用為 6,340 萬美元，非 GAAP 營運費用為 5,350 萬美元。與 2023 年第三季相比，GAAP 和非 GAAP 營業費用均有所增加，主要是由於第四季度與我們美國政府合作夥伴的中子上級開發相關的反向研發信貸減少，以及員工人數增加和與最近的資本支出增加相關的折舊攤銷費用增加的影響。

In SG&A, GAAP expenses declined $1.3 million quarter-on-quarter due to a decrease in performance reserve escrow related to our ASI acquisition, partially offset by an increase in change in contingent consideration related to our PSC acquisition. Non-GAAP SG&A expenses increased by $500,000, primarily due to increases in headcount along with the increase in outside services expenses.

在銷售、一般及行政開支方面，由於與收購 ASI 相關的業績儲備金託管減少，GAAP 費用環比下降 130 萬美元，但與收購 PSC 相關的或有對價變動增加部分抵消了這一下降。非公認會計準則銷售、一般及行政開支增加了 50 萬美元，主要由於員工人數增加以及外部服務費用增加。

Q4 ending SG&A headcount was 247, representing an increase of 11 from the prior quarter. In R&D specifically, GAAP expenses increased $10.9 million quarter-on-quarter due to the previously mentioned roll-off of contra R&D credits related to Neutron upper stage development, as well as an increase in Neutron development spending, offset somewhat by a reduction in stock-based compensation expense.

第四季末銷售、一般及行政開支員工數為 247 人，較上一季增加 11 人。具體來說，在研發方面，由於前面提到的與中子上層開發相關的研發抵銷信貸的減少，以及中子開發支出的增加，GAAP 費用比上一季度增加了 1090 萬美元，但股票薪酬費用的減少在一定程度上抵消了這一增加。

Non-GAAP expenses increased by $13.3 million due to the same underlying factors driving the GAAP spending increases. Q4 ending R&D headcount was 585, representing an increase of 65 from the prior quarter. In summary, total fourth-quarter headcount was 1,684, up 112 heads from the prior quarter.

非 GAAP 支出增加了 1,330 萬美元，原因與 GAAP 支出增加的潛在因素相同。第四季末研發員工總數為 585 人，較上一季增加 65 人。總體而言，第四季員工總數為 1,684 人，較上一季增加 112 人。

Turn to cash, purchase of property, equipment, and capitalized software licenses was $10.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease of $10.6 million from the $21 million in the third quarter of 2023. This sequential decrease was due to lumpiness in the timing of our large CapEx items across both of our launch and space systems businesses. C

2023 年第四季度，現金、購買物業、設備和資本化軟體許可證的支出為 1,040 萬美元，較 2023 年第三季的 2,100 萬美元減少 1,060 萬美元。這一連續下降是由於我們的發射和太空系統業務中的大額資本支出項目的時間不均勻所造成的。碳

ash consumed from operations was $42.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to $25.2 million in the third quarter of 2023. The sequential increase of $17 million was driven primarily by the timing of receipts and payments related to our satellite manufacturing business and the impact of delayed launch services milestone invoicing due to shifting manifest adjustments post-Electron's September 19, 2023, anomaly.

2023 年第四季營運消耗的灰分為 4,240 萬美元，而 2023 年第三季為 2,520 萬美元。連續增加 1700 萬美元，主要由於我們衛星製造業務相關的收款和付款時間，以及由於 Electron 於 2023 年 9 月 19 日出現異常後艙單調整導致的發射服務里程碑發票延遲的影響。

Overall, non-GAAP free cash flow, defined as GAAP operating cash flow, reduced by the purchase of property, equipment, and capitalized software in the fourth quarter of 2023, was a use of $52.6 million, compared to $46.2 million in the third quarter of 2023, or a more apples-to-apples comparison of $54.6 million, when including the impact of our asset acquisitions, most of which is classified as PP&E.

總體而言，非 GAAP 自由現金流（定義為 GAAP 經營現金流）因 2023 年第四季度購買財產、設備和資本化軟體而減少，使用額為 5,260 萬美元，而 2023 年第三季為 4,620 萬美元，或更為同類的比較為 5,460 萬美元，其中包括我們被收購的影響為類型。

The material step-up in negative non-GAAP free cash flow was, as noted in my prior GAAP operating cash flow commentary, was a result of the lumpy timing of payments and receipts associated with our space systems manufacturing operations and the impact of post-anomaly launch services milestones invoice delays, for which we expect reversal of this negative working capital cycle through early 2024.

正如我在先前的 GAAP 經營現金流評論中指出的那樣，非 GAAP 自由現金流負增長的大幅增加是由於我們的太空系統製造業務的付款和收款時間不規律，以及異常後發射服務里程碑發票延遲的影響，我們預計這種負營運資本週期將在 2024 年初逆轉。

The ending balance of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities was $327.9 million as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2023.

截至 2023 年第四季末，現金、現金等價物、受限現金和有價證券的期末餘額為 3.279 億美元。

Reflecting on the past four quarters, we continue to make meaningful progress towards our long-term financial model. Increased Neutron investment will likely continue to drive EBITDA losses in 2024. As we move through the year, we believe a trend to improving scale and efficiency in our space systems business and Electron launch cadence and production efficiencies provide an optimistic outlook towards achieving our long-term target business model.

回顧過去四個季度，我們在長期財務模式方面繼續取得有意義的進展。中子投資的增加可能會在 2024 年繼續導致 EBITDA 損失。隨著時間的推移，我們相信，我們的太空系統業務規模和效率的提高以及電子發射節奏和生產效率的提高為實現我們的長期目標業務模式提供了樂觀的前景。

Overall, we expect gross margin trends will continue to improve over time, thanks to the same factors that helped drive improvement this year. In terms of when we can get to adjusted EBITDA break-even, Neutron investment, especially R&D spend, continues to be the pacing item to achieve its critical milestone.

總體而言，我們預計毛利率趨勢將隨著時間的推移而持續改善，這要歸功於推動今年改善的相同因素。就何時能夠實現調整後 EBITDA 盈虧平衡而言，Neutron 的投資，尤其是研發支出，仍然是實現其關鍵里程碑的步調一致。

Turning to our recent fundraising of $355 million in convertible senior notes. With this financing, we believe we secured a large quantum of cost-effective and shareholder-friendly capital. The roughly $300 million of proceeds, net of our capped call and deal fees, positions the company to exercise inorganic options to further vertically integrate a supply chain with the critical capabilities that are consistent with what we have done successfully in the past, which has enabled larger and more strategic program wins, like the recent $0.5-billion SDA program.

談到我們最近籌集的 3.55 億美元可轉換優先票據。透過這筆融資，我們相信我們獲得了大量具有成本效益且對股東友好的資本。在扣除我們的上限通話費和交易費後，約 3 億美元的收益將使公司能夠行使無機期權，進一步垂直整合供應鏈，實現關鍵能力的提升，這與我們過去的成功做法一致，從而促成​​了更大、更具戰略性的項目勝利，例如最近的 5 億美元 SDA 項目。

With that, let's turn to our guidance for the first quarter of 2024. We expect revenue in the first quarter to range between $92 million and $98 million, representing sequential revenue growth of between 53% and 63%. This range reflects $60 to $65 million of contribution from space systems and $32 to $33 million from launch services, which assumes four launches. Although modestly lower than what we previously expected for Q4 just a few months ago, we don't want to understate how encouraged we are with the magnitude of this forecasted quarter-on-quarter growth and how positively it reflects on the capabilities of the team to deliver this level of growth in such a complex and competitive set of businesses.

因此，讓我們來看看 2024 年第一季的指導。我們預計第一季的營收將在 9,200 萬美元至 9,800 萬美元之間，較上季營收成長 53% 至 63%。該範圍反映了來自太空系統的貢獻 6000 萬至 6500 萬美元以及來自發射服務的貢獻 3200 萬至 3300 萬美元（假設進行四次發射）。儘管略低於我們幾個月前對第四季度的預期，但我們不想低估我們對這一預測的環比增長幅度感到多麼鼓舞，以及它對團隊在如此復雜和競爭激烈的業務中實現這種增長水平的能力有多麼積極的影響。

We expect first-quarter GAAP gross margin to range between 24% to 26% and non-GAAP gross margins to range between 29% to 31%. These forecasted GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins reflect improved projected launch cadence in Q1, offset by mixed shifts in our space systems business biased towards the larger and lower margin satellite manufacturing program revenue contribution versus certain of our higher gross margin component offerings.

我們預計第一季 GAAP 毛利率在 24% 至 26% 之間，非 GAAP 毛利率在 29% 至 31% 之間。這些預測的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 毛利率反映了第一季預計的發射節奏的改善，抵消了我們太空系統業務的混合變化，偏向於更大和利潤率較低的衛星製造計劃收入貢獻，而不是某些毛利率較高的組件產品。

We expect first-quarter GAAP operating expenses to range between $73 million and $75 million and non-GAAP operating expenses to range between $62 million and $64 million. The quarter-on-quarter increases are driven primarily by increased Neutron investment, including staff costs, prototyping materials, as well as the runoff of contra R&D credits related to our Neutron upper stage development agreement with the US Space Force.

我們預計第一季 GAAP 營業費用在 7,300 萬美元至 7,500 萬美元之間，非 GAAP 營業費用在 6,200 萬美元至 6,400 萬美元之間。季度環比成長主要得益於中子投資的增加，包括員工成本、原型材料，以及與美國太空部隊達成的中子上級開發協議相關的反向研發信貸的流失。

We expect first-quarter GAAP and non-GAAP net interest expense to be $1.5 million. We expect first-quarter adjusted EBITDA loss to range between $28 million and $30 million and basic shares outstanding to be approximately 490 million shares.

我們預計第一季 GAAP 和非 GAAP 淨利息支出為 150 萬美元。我們預計第一季調整後的 EBITDA 虧損在 2,800 萬美元至 3,000 萬美元之間，基本流通股數約為 4.9 億股。

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

然後，我們會將電話轉給接線員以回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Andres Sheppard, Cantor Fitzgerald.

（操作員指示） Andres Sheppard、Cantor Fitzgerald。

Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. Congratulations on the quarter, all the launches, the development of the Neutron. It sounds like it really was a busy quarter. So, congrats on all developments and thanks for taking our question.

大家好。午安.恭喜本季的所有發布以及 Neutron 的發展。聽起來這確實是一個繁忙的季度。因此，恭喜所有進展，並感謝您回答我們的問題。

I was just wondering if maybe you can give us some color as to how we should think about scaling and timing of other opportunities in space systems across both maybe satellite manufacturer and components and maybe how should we think about a reaction wheel in your backlog versus revenues of contract? Thank you.

我只是想知道您是否可以給我們一些說明，我們應該如何考慮在衛星製造商和組件領域中太空系統中其他機會的擴展和時間安排，以及我們應該如何考慮您的積壓訂單與合約收入之間的反作用輪？謝謝。

I'll take the first part of that, Adam, and you might want to talk about the revenue side.

亞當，我將談論第一部分，你可能想談談收入方面。

But, I mean, we continue to see lots of scaling across the space systems business, particularly from commercial and government. So, you have big programs like the SDA program that are procuring hundreds of satellites over extended periods of time that require replenishment. And then you have a commercial model that's kind of similar.

但是，我的意思是，我們繼續看到整個太空系統業務的大規模擴張，特別是在商業和政府領域。因此，您有像 SDA 計劃這樣的大型項目，這些項目需要在較長的一段時間內購買數百顆需要補給的衛星。然後你就會有類似的商業模式。

So as we -- as those constellations and those government programs continue to build out and we continue to either supply what we've already won or win more, the corresponding timing of that revenue will scale appropriately. But maybe, Adam, you have further comments?

因此，隨著這些星座和政府計劃的不斷建設，我們繼續提供我們已經贏得的或贏得更多的收入，相應的收入時間也會適當調整。但是也許，亞當，您還有其他評論？

Yeah, no, I think a little more color there. So, if you look at the mixed changes that are going on within our space systems business, specifically between the satellite manufacturing and the components businesses, we'll say that this year we'll have probably a more significant step up in the relative mix of the space systems part, like the satellite manufacturing part of the business. And that's a function of going into production phase on our contract with MDA. So, I think this year you start to see, again, a little more relative contribution from the Photon side of the business. But we are seeing very, very significant growth also from the components. It's just coming from a different base.

是的，不，我認為那裡顏色更豐富一些。因此，如果您看看我們的太空系統業務中正在發生的混合變化，特別是衛星製造和零件業務之間的變化，我們會說，今年我們在太空系統部分（如衛星製造部分）的相對組合方面可能會有更顯著的提升。這是我們與 MDA 簽訂的合約進入生產階段的功能。因此，我認為今年你會再次看到來自 Photon 業務的相對貢獻增加。但我們也看到零件方面出現了非常非常顯著的成長。它只是來自不同的基礎。

When you think specifically, you also asked about the reaction wheel business and where that is. I think you're probably referring to the mega constellation win that we've announced some time ago. And so, that starts to ship in meaningful ways this year as well. So, we see, again, very encouraging growth across the satellite manufacturing, but also components. In this case, this year will be a very good year for growth in our reaction wheel business, particularly tied to that one mega constellation deal that we announced a couple of years ago.

當你具體思考的時候，你也會詢問反作用輪業務以及它在哪裡。我想您可能指的是我們不久前宣布的超級星座勝利。因此，今年這也將開始以有意義的方式實現。因此，我們再次看到衛星製造業以及零件製造業都出現了令人鼓舞的成長。在這種情況下，今年將是我們反作用輪業務成長非常好的一年，特別是與我們幾年前宣布的一項大型星座交易有關。

Got it. That's super helpful. I appreciate all of that context.

知道了。這非常有幫助。我很欣賞所有這些背景。

Maybe one follow-up for you, Adam. In regards to the $515 million contract award with the Space Development Agency, I'm wondering if maybe you can give us some color as to how we should be thinking about in terms of modeling and in terms of revenue recognition. I understand there's a base amount of a little less than $490 million, and I think work for this contract has already begun. But just wondering if maybe you can give us some direction as to how we should be thinking about it in terms of recognition for revenue. Thank you.

也許還需要你跟進一次，亞當。關於與太空發展局簽訂的 5.15 億美元合同，我想知道您是否可以給我們一些關於我們應該如何考慮建模和收入確認方面的問題。據我所知，基本金額略低於 4.9 億美元，而且我認為該合約的工作已經開始了。但我只是想知道您是否可以給我們一些指導，告訴我們應該如何從收入確認的角度來考慮這個問題。謝謝。

Sure. Yeah, for this contract in particular, it's not too dissimilar to other satellite build contracts in the fact that it's more back-end loaded. It's not like under this contract, we will recognize revenue as we expend resources against the program to complete it, so under what they call an EAC basis, under AST 606.

當然。是的，特別是對於這個合約來說，它與其他衛星建造合約沒有太大區別，因為它有更多的後端負載。這不像是根據這份合同，我們將在為完成該項目而投入資源時確認收入，所以根據他們所謂的 EAC 基礎，根據 AST 606。

So if you think about it, this year is really all about finalizing the design elements of the program, and the majority of the revenue ultimately gets recognized as you're starting to build hardware and start to pull things to the floor. So this year, we will recognize some revenue against the contract because there is cost to complete the design elements of it, but what you really see is the more meaningful contribution of revenue will start up probably more towards the second half of 2025, and then ultimately the satellites begin shipping and ultimately ship in 2027.

所以如果你仔細想想，今年實際上就是最終確定程序的設計元素，並且大部分收入最終會在你開始構建硬體並開始將東西拉到地面時得到確認。因此，今年我們將根據合約確認部分收入，因為完成合約的設計要素需要成本，但你真正看到的是，更有意義的收入貢獻可能會在 2025 年下半年開始，最終衛星將開始發貨，並最終在 2027 年發貨。

Now, what we'll say is that if you think about the working capital elements of this deal is, revenue recognition is not tied to cash receipts and will be positive from a working capital perspective on this contract because we have to -- at some point, we receive the payments from the customer, and then we have to forward some of those payments, obviously, to our long-lead vendors, but we have modeled this contract to be cash flow positive from its inception. So this is one where it's both good from a working capital perspective, but also it's going to build nicely from a revenue contribution as we progress through 2024 and into 2025 and beyond.

現在，我們要說的是，如果你考慮這筆交易的營運資本要素，收入確認與現金收入無關，從營運資本的角度來看，這份合約的收入確認將是正數，因為我們必須——在某個時候，我們會收到客戶的付款，然後我們必須將其中一些付款轉發給我們的長期供應商，但從一開始，我們就將這份合約建模為現金流量。因此，從營運資本的角度來看這都是件好事，而且隨著我們進入 2024 年、2025 年及以後，它的收入貢獻也將良好增長。

Wonderful. That's super helpful. I appreciate that. Congrats again on the quarter. I'll pass it on. Thank you.

精彩的。這非常有幫助。我很感激。再次恭喜本季取得佳績。我會傳達的。謝謝。

Erik Rasmussen, Stifel.

埃里克·拉斯穆森（Erik Rasmussen），Stifel。

Yeah, thanks for taking the questions, and yeah, congrats on all the progress you guys have been making. Maybe just on the SDA award, when looking at that $515 million basis, it seems like the value per satellite of almost $29 million is meaningfully higher than what we saw that was previously awarded on that beta program. What's driving this, and what is the cost structure of the satellite, and are there any NRE fees associated?

是的，感謝您回答這些問題，是的，祝賀你們所取得的所有進步。也許僅從 SDA 獎項來看，當以 5.15 億美元為基礎時，似乎每顆衛星的價值接近 2900 萬美元，明顯高於我們先前在該測試版計劃中授予的金額。推動這一進程的因素是什麼？

Yeah, Pete, I'll let you take the first piece of that.

是的，皮特，我讓你拿走第一塊。

Sure. Yeah. I mean, so not all satellites are created equal, Erik, and that particular bus and design is pretty unique. So, I wouldn't read too much into the average satellite price. It's saying the average car price, but there's a Ferrari and a Toyota, and you don't expect those to be the same price. So, you have to look at it with respect to what its capabilities are, and what are the quality of the components that have been used in it, and so on and so forth.

當然。是的。我的意思是，並非所有衛星都是一樣的，艾瑞克，而且那個特定的總線和設計非常獨特。所以，我不會過度關注平均衛星價格。它說的是平均汽車價格，但有一輛法拉利和一輛豐田，你不會指望它們的價格相同。所以，你必須從它的功能、它所用組件的品質等等角度來看待它。

And as far as, Erik, as far as the NRE piece, yeah, I mean, yes, there is an NRE element to this program, and that's really, again, what's going to be happening this year in 2024, and that's what we'll get the beginnings of revenue recognition on. It certainly won't be a very significant portion of the overall contract value, but it's also not completely immaterial.

至於 Erik，就 NRE 部分而言，是的，我的意思是，是的，該計劃確實有一個 NRE 元素，而這實際上也是 2024 年將要發生的事情，這就是我們開始確認收入的起點。這當然不會占到整個合約價值的很大一部分，但也不是完全不重要。

So, as we progress through 2024, we'll be able to provide more color on what that REVREC looks like. It's a little bit early because the contract is relatively new, and we're still going through a lot of program details, but, again, as we progress through 2024, again, as we progress throughout the year, we should have much more ability to provide color on the timing and the magnitude of the incremental contribution from the NRE phase of this contract.

因此，隨著我們進入 2024 年，我們將能夠提供更多有關 REVREC 的詳細資訊。現在說這個還為時過早，因為該合約相對較新，我們仍在研究許多計劃細節，但隨著我們進入 2024 年，隨著我們全年的進展，我們應該更有能力說明該合約 NRE 階段的增量貢獻的時間和幅度。

Okay. We'll wait for that. Thanks. And then, obviously, backlog continues to grow. You added over $500 million with the SBA award. Can you just comment on some of the types and sizes of potential deals, whether on the government or commercial side that you're tracking, or maybe some qualitative comments to highlight the opportunities or maybe the programs you guys are looking at?

好的。我們會等待。謝謝。然後，顯然積壓訂單繼續增加。您透過 SBA 獎勵增加了 5 億多美元。您能否對您所追蹤的政府或商業方面的潛在交易的類型和規模進行評論，或者做一些定性評論來突出您正在關注的機會或項目？

Yeah, sure. I mean, so, obviously, Erik, SBA is a big one. I mean, as I mentioned in a previous answer, these are spacecraft that require replenishing. The US government is moving from a few succinct assets in geo to a distributed LEO architecture. So, that's a significant opportunity and change from the government.

是的，當然。我的意思是，顯然，Erik，SBA 是一家大公司。我的意思是，正如我在先前的回答中提到的，這些是需要補給的太空船。美國政府正在從地理上的少數簡潔資產轉向分散式低地球軌道 (LEO) 架構。所以，這是政府的一個重大機會和變革。

And it's not just SBA. If you look across all of the government agencies, the transition down to LEO is occurring. So, we see a lot of opportunities from the US government and, quite frankly, from other governments as other governments follow that path.

這不僅僅是 SBA。如果你縱觀所有政府機構，你會發現向低地球軌道（LEO）的轉變正在發生。因此，我們看到來自美國政府的許多機遇，坦白說，來自其他政府的許多機遇，因為其他政府也在走這條路。

And then on the commercial side, there's a number of constellations that we continue to track. But we'll always be pretty selective about the work that we take on. And I think we've mentioned before that we only really take on work that we believe is strategic to the longer-term vision of the company. And we'll continue to follow that process.

在商業方面，我們會繼續追蹤一些星座。但我們對於所承接的工作始終非常謹慎。我記得我們之前提到過，我們只承擔那些我們認為對公司長期願景具有策略意義的工作。我們將繼續關注這一進程。

Yeah. And, Erik, I'd add a little bit to that, too. I mean, if we had this big step up, as you noted, related to the SBA contract. And I think it's a very meaningful one for us because, again, we're priming that mission. We're not a sub. We're the prime for it. So, I think that opens up other opportunities to take on bigger and bigger prime projects.

是的。艾瑞克，我也想補充一點。我的意思是，如果我們在 SBA 合約方面取得這一重大進展，正如你所說。我認為這對我們來說非常有意義，因為我們再次為這項使命做好準備。我們不是潛水艇。我們是其中的佼佼者。因此，我認為這為承接越來越大的優質專案提供了其他機會。

But I think with this big step up, I think we can also look forward to really with -- as we get closer and closer to getting Neutron to the pad, obviously that's going to be an opportunity to significantly build our backlog in a very, very meaningful way, given the estimated average selling price of that vehicle versus Electron.

但我認為，隨著這一重大進步，我認為我們也可以真正期待——隨著我們越來越接近將 Neutron 送上發射台，顯然這將是一個機會，以一種非常非常有意義的方式顯著增加我們的積壓訂單，考慮到該飛行器與 Electron 相比的預計平均售價。

And in addition to basically looking forward to having Neutron start adding to the backlog we're seeing a lot of excitement and appetite towards HASTE. And the HASTE missions are a great opportunity for us. They're a recent add to our launch capability stack.

除了基本上期待 Neutron 開始增加積壓工作之外，我們還看到人們對 HASTE 表現出極大的興奮和興趣。HASTE 任務對我們來說是一個很好的機會。它們是我們最近添加到我們的發射功能堆疊中的。

So across both, Neutron, HASTE, and just, if you want to call it Electron Classic, I think there's really a lot of opportunities to continue to build that backlog and hopefully maintain a relatively consistent mix of launch and space systems.

因此，在 Neutron、HASTE 以及 Electron Classic 中，我認為確實有很多機會繼續建造這個積壓，並希望保持相對一致的發射和太空系統組合。

When Pete and I were looking at how we want to model this business going forward, we do like the predictability that space systems brings with it across components plus large program opportunities, because launch is always going to be a lumpier business. So -- but we think there's a large magnitude of opportunity there, again, particularly as we mix in more HASTE and start to see Neutron opportunities feather into the backlog.

當皮特和我考慮如何在未來塑造這個業務時，我們確實喜歡太空系統為各個組件以及大型項目機會帶來的可預測性，因為發射永遠是一個比較不穩定的業務。所以 — — 但我們認為那裡有很大的機會，特別是當我們加入更多的 HASTE 並開始看到 Neutron 機會逐漸進入積壓階段時。

Great. Maybe if I could just add one -- ask one more on the convert deal you announced. How did you arrive at this, maybe, versus other financing options you were contemplating? And then, of the $300 million net proceeds, obviously, you mentioned M&A. What kind of assets could be interesting to bring in-house that would drive further your strategy?

偉大的。也許我可以補充一個問題——再問一個有關您宣布的轉換交易的問題。與您正在考慮的其他融資選擇相比，您是如何得出這個結論的？然後，在 3 億美元的淨收益中，顯然您提到了併購。什麼樣的資產值得引進公司內部以進一步推動您的策略？

Yeah. I'll take the first one, then I'll pass it off to Pete to maybe provide a little more color on M&A targets, sort of areas we might be looking at. But why Convert? I think when we looked at all the different options and we did exhaust all the different possibilities out there. It was the right vehicle to provide us the quantum of cash that we were looking to raise, because we do see a lot of opportunities out there to grow inorganically and continue exploiting M&A as a growth vehicle for us.

是的。我將回答第一個問題，然後將其交給 Pete，以便他能提供更多關於併購目標的詳細信息，例如我們可能會關注的領域。但為什麼要轉換呢？我認為，當我們考慮所有不同的選擇時，我們確實窮盡了所有不同的可能性。它是為我們提供所希望籌集的現金量的正確工具，因為我們確實看到了許多無機成長的機會，並繼續利用併購作為我們的成長工具。

And if you look at the flexibility that it provides as well, there were no financial covenants related to it. It gives us a lot more freedom to run the business the way that we think it needs to be run. And from a cost of capital perspective, we just think it represented the lowest cost of capital versus some other straight debt options and so forth.

如果你看看它提供的彈性，你會發現它沒有相關的財務契約。它給予我們更多的自由來以我們認為需要的方式經營業務。從資本成本的角度來看，我們認為與其他一些直接債務選擇等相比，它代表了最低的資本成本。

So we really -- we ran parallel processes looking at different ways to bring capital into business, all the way from doing a straight equity offering to doing straight debt to then the convertible. And the convertible just came on top in almost every metric that we were looking to raise on. So to us it became a no-brainer as we learn more about each of those options as they would be presented to our business. So I would say we put some competitive tension in the process to make sure that we were picking the right product and ultimately felt comfortable that this indeed was the one.

因此，我們確實——我們運行了並行流程，尋找將資本引入企業的不同方式，從直接發行股票到直接發行債務，再到可轉換債券。而敞篷車在我們希望提升的幾乎所有指標中都名列前茅。因此，對我們來說，這變得輕而易舉，因為我們會更了解每個選項，因為它們會呈現給我們的業務。因此我想說，我們在這個過程中加入了一定的競爭張力，以確保我們選擇了正確的產品，並最終感到放心，這確實是一個正確的產品。

Yeah, and on the assets, for potential M&A targets. So, look, there's a couple of things that we don't have an aquiver with respect to space systems. So there's a potential for some tuck-ins. I would say we have a reasonable focus on payloads. I mean, as a prime now on the SDA mission, the only thing that we're not really doing, the actual payloads and sensors. So I think that that's obviously an area of interest.

是的，關於資產，以及潛在的併購目標。所以，你看，在太空系統方面，有幾件事我們還沒準備好。因此，存在一些進行整合的可能性。我想說我們對有效載荷的關注是合理的。我的意思是，作為 SDA 任務的主要人員，我們實際上沒有做的唯一事情是實際的有效載荷和感測器。所以我認為這顯然是一個值得關注的領域。

And I'll remind you that the end goal here is not just to be a bus provider or even a prime. It's to ultimately have our own constellation and orbit providing services because that's where we ultimately think this all goes. So as I mentioned before, everything we do is within that vision. And the same with any M&A targets, especially in the payload area.

我要提醒你們，這裡的最終目標不僅是成為一個巴士供應商，甚至是一個主要供應商。最終我們將擁有自己的星座和軌道來提供服務，因為我們認為這最終就是這一切的發展方向。正如我之前提到的，我們所做的一切都符合這個願景。任何併購目標都是如此，特別是在有效載荷領域。

Great. Thanks for taking the questions and good luck.

偉大的。感謝您回答問題並祝您好運。

[Christine Leelug, Morgan Stanley].

[Christine Leelug，摩根士丹利]。

Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Peter, with the Varda mission, you mentioned that your experience with a capsule re-entry could inform potentially crewed missions via Neutron. Can you expand on that a bit? And how far along are you in developing a re-entry capsule for Neutron that can carry humans? And how are you thinking about that market opportunity there?

嘿，大家下午好。彼得，在瓦爾達任務中，你提到你的太空艙再入經驗可以為通過中子進行的載人任務提供參考。能稍微詳細說明一下嗎？你們在開發可載人的中子返回艙方面進展如何？您如何看待那裡的市場機會？

Yeah, thanks, Christine. So, look, we, as we're designing Neutron, to be clear, we don't have any active capsule development programs or anything. But as we're developing the vehicle, we wanted to make sure it was human ratable because it's a vehicle of significant enough scale and class that it should be capable of human space flight. So it's definitely something we pay close attention to.

是的，謝謝，克里斯汀。所以，看，我們在設計中子時，要明確的是，我們沒有任何主動的膠囊開發程序或任何東西。但在開發該飛行器時，我們希望確保它能夠供人類使用，因為它的規模和等級足夠大，應該能夠進行載人太空飛行。所以這是我們絕對密切關注的事情。

Now, with respect to the human spaceflight market, it's kind of an unusual one because really there's only one customer right now, that being NASA. And they're fairly well served. So it's unclear whether or not there's a big enough market opportunity to go after a human spaceflight. So it's unclear whether or not there's a big enough market opportunity to go after that, as it stands today, especially if you were to self-fund all the development, because typically those programs, the development has been paid for by the government. So that would be a pretty big call to make.

現在，就載人航太市場而言，這是一個不尋常的市場，因為目前實際上只有一個客戶，那就是 NASA。而且他們的服務相當不錯。因此，目前還不清楚載人航太是否存在足夠大的市場機會。因此，目前還不清楚是否有足夠大的市場機會，特別是如果你自行資助所有的開發，因為通常這些計畫的開發都是由政府支付的。所以這將是一個相當重大的決定。

But we'll make sure that we're ready and able to do human spaceflight missions when we think the market conditions are right and when there's more than probably one customer, which obviously needs to be more than one destination. So as the space industry continues to evolve and grow and it becomes clear that there's more destinations and more customers for human spaceflight, then we're ready with the Neutron vehicle and, clearly, we can re-enter and land stuff exactly where we need to.

但我們會確保，當市場條件合適，且可能有多個客戶（顯然需要多個目的地）時，我們已經做好準備，能夠執行載人太空任務。因此，隨著航太工業的不斷發展和壯大，載人航太的目的地和客戶越來越多，我們準備好了中子飛行器，顯然，我們可以重新進入並將物體降落到我們需要的準確位置。

Great. Thanks for the color. And maybe on Neutron too, you talked about Neutron being on the pad this year, but what do you think about a launch in 2024, given all the work left on the program? And also, how do you think about the cadence? Are you still on track for about three Neutron launches in 2025?

偉大的。謝謝你的顏色。也許關於中子火箭也是如此，您說過中子火箭今年將發射，但考慮到該計劃還剩下多少工作，您認為 2024 年發射怎麼樣？另外，您如何看待節奏？你們是否仍計劃在 2025 年發射三次中子？

Yeah, look, I mean, at the end of the day, it's a rocket program, right? And right now, we have a schedule that closes for a launch by the end of the year, but we've got a lot of testing to get through. And if everything goes well, then everything goes well. If we have some issues and some development issues along the way, whether it be propulsion or other systems, then that will cause us to re-evaluate the schedule. But as it stands today, that's where we're looking at it. And like I said, we have a schedule that closes.

是的，看，我的意思是，歸根結底，這是一個火箭計劃，對吧？目前，我們已製定了年底前推出該產品的計劃，但我們還有很多測試要做。如果一切順利，那麼一切就會順利。如果我們在過程中遇到一些問題和一些開發問題，無論是推進系統還是其他系統，那麼這都會導致我們重新評估時間表。但就目前的情況來看，我們仍處於這一階段。就像我說過的，我們有一個截止的時間表。

And then on cadence, we'll follow a very similar cadence to what we did with Electron. So if we get one away this year, then next year we'd look to be -- to do sort of three, and then we may be able to step it up to as much as five. But it really depends on how the development program goes. And it also depends on how much work we have to do after we get past first flight as to what cadence we can meet.

然後在節奏上，我們將遵循與 Electron 非常相似的節奏。因此，如果我們今年能取得一項成就，那麼明年我們就會爭取三項成就，然後可能會增加到五項。但這確實取決於開發計劃的進展。這也取決於我們在完成首飛後要做多少工作才能達到什麼樣的節奏。

But what I will say is we certainly get up from an infrastructure perspective to deliver those cadences with the AFP machine in the Middle River facility, and also the Virgin Orbit asset. I would say that from an infrastructure standpoint, we're in a good position to scale.

但我要說的是，我們肯定會從基礎設施的角度出發，利用 Middle River 設施中的 AFP 機器以及 Virgin Orbit 資產來實現這些節奏。我想說，從基礎設施的角度來看，我們處於良好的擴展條件。

Great. And last question on Neutron. As you sit here, what do you anticipate the mix of customers that is for government versus commercial over the next two years? Where do you see the most opportunity for Neutron customers? And when do you plan to share the details of the initial customer set for the first launch? And ultimately, do you expect to launch Neutron from both Wallops and New Zealand?

偉大的。最後一個問題是關於中子的。您現在坐在這裡，您預計未來兩年內政府客戶和商業客戶的結構會是怎麼樣的？您認為 Neutron 客戶的最大機會在哪裡？您計劃何時分享首次發布的初始客戶群的詳細資訊？最後，您是否希望從瓦洛普斯和新西蘭發射中子火箭？

Sure. So we certainly hope for a mix of sort of 50-50. We've found that to be about right for Electron. I think it provides a good mix. And there's plenty of government customers that are looking forward to the vehicle coming online, and equally so commercial customers. So, I've no reason to believe that we won't see a very -- a different mix.

當然。因此我們當然希望達到 50-50 的比例。我們發現這對 Electron 來說是正確的。我認為它提供了良好的組合。許多政府客戶都期盼該車的上線，商業客戶也是如此。所以，我沒有理由相信我們不會看到一個非常不同的組合。

And then, with respect to Wallops and New Zealand, so it will only launch from Wallops. New Zealand is not a viable launch site for a vehicle of this size. To give you a sense of scale, if we took all of the liquid oxygen produced in New Zealand, it would half fill a Neutron tank once. So, it's just not the industrial base to be launching this vehicle of this class down in New Zealand. So, it'll be exclusively a Wallops pad to start with, for sure.

然後，關於瓦洛普斯和紐西蘭，它只會從瓦洛普斯發射。紐西蘭不適合發射這種大小的飛行器。為了讓大家有個大概的了解，如果我們把紐西蘭生產的所有液態氧都拿出來，那麼它就可以裝滿半個中子罐。所以，紐西蘭不具備推出此類車輛的工業基礎。所以，首先它肯定是專門為瓦洛普斯準備的。

Great. Thank you for the color.

偉大的。謝謝你的顏色。

No worries.

不用擔心。

[Kyle Vaughn], TD Cowen.

[凱爾·沃恩]，TD Cowen。

Thank you very much. And so, your growth margin, you've indicated, is going to be lower in the first quarter than the fourth. And yet, if you hit the target, you're going to have four launches versus one. And you've basically made the point that there's this huge leverage in terms of more launches. So how come the growth margin is down? You mentioned systems, but is the launch margin up sequentially?

非常感謝。因此，您指出，第一季的成長幅度將低於第四季。然而，如果你擊中目標，你將有四次發射對一次發射。您基本上已經指出，就更多發射而言，存在著巨大的槓桿作用。那麼成長率為何會下降呢？您提到了系統，但發布利潤率是否會持續上升？

Yes. So, Kyle, I'll take that one. So, yeah, the launch margin actually does increase sequentially based on those increased number of launches. It's really all consumed, though, and then some by space systems as, again, a result of a disproportionate growth on the system side of things as we move into the production phase of the MDA contract.

是的。所以，凱爾，我選擇這個。是的，隨著發射次數的增加，發射利潤率確實會逐級增加。但實際上，這些都被消耗了，還有一些被太空系統消耗，這又是由於我們進入 MDA 合約的生產階段時系統方面出現了不成比例的增長。

So, again, it's a goodness on the launch side does get consumed by just the mix on the space system side. So, the benefit of these large space system contracts is obviously scale and absolute dollars that flow, but they do come at a lower gross margin versus our components business.

因此，再說一次，發射方面的優點確實被太空系統方面的混合所消耗。因此，這些大型太空系統合約的好處顯然是規模和絕對資金流動，但與我們的零件業務相比，它們的毛利率較低。

So, over time, it's really all about managing that mix of these larger, lower gross margin programs on the manufacturing side of space systems versus the higher gross margin programs on the production versus the higher margin component sales and the increasing gross margins that we expect from our launch business as we continue to grow or scale the cadence of Electron throughout the year.

因此，隨著時間的推移，這實際上是管理這些較大、毛利率較低的太空系統製造項目與生產方面的毛利率較高的項目以及毛利率較高的零部件銷售項目的組合，隨著我們全年繼續增長或擴大 Electron 的節奏，我們預計發射業務的毛利率會不斷增加。

Thank you. And then a second one, HASTE, you mentioned you got seven orders in '23. What percent are they, how many are they out of your manifest of 22 this year? Roughly, when do they go and how does their profitability compare with an Electron launch?

謝謝。然後是第二個問題，HASTE，您提到您在'23 年收到了 7 個訂單。他們佔了多少百分比？大致來說，他們什麼時候上市，與 Electron 上市相比，他們的獲利能力如何？

Yeah. So, we have two HASTE missions on the manifest for 2024 out of the total 22 manifested. And if you look at -- the contribution from a margin perspective is relatively consistent with other launches. I mean, we have a higher selling price, but we also have some incremental costs associated with those because they go out of wallop. So, we have more variable costs related because we pay the range fees in Virginia. Plus, we also have incremental government mission assurance costs. So, you basically have the benefit of the higher selling price, but as a gross margin percentage contributor, it's about on par with other Electron missions.

是的。因此，在總共 22 個 HASTE 任務中，2024 年的計畫中有兩項。如果你看一下——從利潤率的角度來看，貢獻與其他發表會相對一致。我的意思是，我們的銷售價格更高，但是由於它們的功效不佳，我們也產生了一些相關的增量成本。因此，我們有更多的相關變動成本，因為我們在維吉尼亞州支付射程費用。此外，我們還有增加的政府任務保障成本。因此，您基本上可以享受更高銷售價格的好處，但作為毛利率百分比的貢獻者，它與其他電子任務大致相當。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Matt Akers, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的馬特‧艾克斯 (Matt Akers)。

Hey, guys. Good afternoon. Thanks for the question. I think, Adam, you touched on EBITDA breakeven and it sounds like that's kind of paced by sort of how fast Neutron spend goes. Is there any more color you can give there? Is there a range we should sort of think of as, I guess, a 25, a reasonable outcome if everything goes as planned?

嘿，大家好。午安.謝謝你的提問。亞當，我認為你提到了 EBITDA 損益平衡，這聽起來像是受 Neutron 支出速度的影響。還能提供更多細節嗎？如果一切按計劃進行，我們是否應該考慮一個範圍，例如 25，這是一個合理的結果？

Yeah. So, as we progress through 2024, we expect, obviously, growth on the top line to continue. We expect gross margin expansion. That really does get consumed by a step up in investment for Neutron. We're really in the throat of the spend on Neutron this year. And it's really all about getting across the line, getting the vehicle to pad. And then once we start going into production on that vehicle, then obviously you've got some, obviously, contributing revenue to offset the cost and it moves from R&D to cost of sales.

是的。因此，隨著我們進入 2024 年，我們預計營收顯然將繼續成長。我們預計毛利率將擴大。這確實會因 Neutron 投資的增加而被消耗。我們今年在 Neutron 上的支出確實非常困難。而這其實都是為了越過界線，讓車輛到達目的地。然後，一旦我們開始生產該車輛，那麼顯然你會得到一些收入來抵消成本，並將其從研發轉移到銷售成本。

So from just the perspective, we really need to get that initial Neutron model to the pad and off. So if you think about our timing, again, if we're successful in the green light schedule hold, as Pete talked about earlier, where we get to launch off by the end of this year, that's really that cresting point. And so not too long after that, we should really be in the phase that where we could be looking down at line of sight to adjust the EBITDA positivity. But it really can't happen practically without getting that first Neutron off.

因此，從這個角度來看，我們確實需要將初始中子模型送上發射台並發射出去。因此，如果你再次考慮我們的時間安排，如果我們成功獲得綠燈時間表，就像 Pete 之前提到的那樣，我們將在今年年底前開始啟動，這真的是頂峰。因此不久之後，我們就應該進入這樣一個階段，我們可以低頭看線來調整 EBITDA 的正值。但實際上，如果沒有發射第一個中子，這不可能發生。

Got it. Thanks. That's helpful. And then I guess just to go back to the M&A discussion, I think you highlighted some of the assets you might be looking at. Are those assets coming available for sale? Are the prices reasonable? Just any color on what you're seeing in the market out there.

知道了。謝謝。這很有幫助。然後我想回到併購討論，我想您強調了您可能正在關注的一些資產。這些資產可以出售嗎？價格合理嗎？就像您在市場上看到的任何顏色一樣。

I want Pete to take a first stab at that.

我希望 Pete 能先嘗試。

Yeah, sure. Thanks, Adam. Yeah, I mean, bear in mind that a lot of these potential acquisitions are companies that we've worked with for many years and we know well. That's been a normal mode of operation. So it's less what's coming to market and what people are delivering to our plate rather than strategically going through and working out the ones that we really, really, really need. So it's not about for us, it's not about buying revenue. It's about making sure we have the capability in-house and with the end goal of doing our own thing in the future.

是的，當然。謝謝，亞當。是的，我的意思是，請記住，很多潛在的收購對像都是我們合作多年並且非常了解的公司。這是一種正常的運作模式。因此，我們關注的重點並不是什麼市場出現了什麼以及人們為我們提供了什麼，而是策略性地篩選和找出我們真正需要的東西。所以這對我們來說並不重要，也不是為了購買收入。這是為了確保我們擁有內部能力，並且最終目標是在未來做我們自己的事情。

I think privately funded -- privately held companies seem to have -- I've noticed that they seem to have been slightly insulated from some of the value destruction that publicly traded companies may have experienced. So we are seeing probably prices and asks that are a little bit higher than might be benchmarked against public companies. But yeah, I mean, Adam, you might have some more to say about that, but that's typically what we're seeing.

我認為私人資助——私人控股的公司似乎——我注意到它們似乎稍微免受上市公司可能經歷的一些價值破壞的影響。因此，我們看到的價格和要價可能比上市公司的基準價格略高一些。但是的，我的意思是，亞當，你可能對此還有更多要說的，但這通常是我們所看到的。

Yeah, Matt, I would say that the expectations of sellers remains high. I think that we are seeing now, maybe we're getting to a breaking point because we've seen processes, sale processes that have been broken. So where a transaction hasn't been reached by privately held companies.

是的，馬特，我想說賣家的期望仍然很高。我認為我們現在看到，也許我們正到達一個臨界點，因為我們已經看到流程、銷售流程已經被打破。因此，私人控股公司尚未達成交易。

So I think that they're meeting a lot of resistance with their expected price tags. So hopefully that starts to drive a change in sellers' behaviors and expectations. I think at some point they'll have to realize that ultimately the buyers, if they're not just going to trade amongst private equity players that it's these public market larger companies that have liquidity and currencies to use that they've got to come in line more with public market valuations. And again, hopefully we're getting closer to that.

因此我認為他們在預期價格方面遇到了很大阻力。因此希望這能夠開始推動賣家行為和期望的改變。我認為，在某個時候，他們必須意識到，最終，如果買家不只是在私募股權參與者之間進行交易，而是在公開市場中擁有流動性和貨幣的大型公司之間進行交易，那麼他們就必須更多地遵循公開市場的估值。我希望我們能越來越接近這個目標。

But I would say that we, again, we're seeing some pretty interesting things out there that we think are actionable, that fit well within our portfolio, that help us to continue vertically integrating our business. And again, I think the reason for the timing of the convert raise was really to enable us to capitalize on those opportunities. So yeah, a combination of sellers getting maybe a little bit more realistic combined with the -- having the drive pattern on the balance sheet, we think positions as well to take advantage of deals in the coming periods.

但我想說的是，我們再次看到了一些非常有趣的事情，我們認為它們是可行的，非常適合我們的產品組合，有助於我們繼續垂直整合我們的業務。而且，我認為轉換率提高的時機其實是為了讓我們能夠利用這些機會。是的，賣家的組合可能會變得更加現實，再加上資產負債表上的驅動模式，我們認為頭寸也能夠在未來時期利用交易​​。

Great. That's very helpful color. Thank you.

偉大的。這是非常有用的顏色。謝謝。

Suji Desilva, Roth MKM.

蘇吉·德席爾瓦（Suji Desilva），Roth MKM。

Hi, Peter. Hi, Adam. I think you said on the call that the number of deals in calendar '22, if I heard right, was 25. I'm wondering what the comparable number was for '22. And I know that number includes space systems deals, but for the launch deals, you just talk about what you're seeing in terms of incremental deal size and terms versus the prior year and how that's helping visibility.

你好，彼得。你好，亞當。我記得您在電話中說過，如果我沒聽錯的話，22 年的交易數量是 25 筆。我想知道 22 年的可比較數字是多少。我知道這個數字包括太空系統交易，但對於發射交易，你只需談談與前一年相比，增量交易規模和條款方面的情況，以及這如何有助於提高知名度。

Yeah. Hey, Suji. I don't have the numbers off the top of my head, but I mean, we saw a pretty marked step up in contract signing last year. And that's due to a number of things. I mean, I think Electron clearly submitted its position in the industry and there's a lot of customers that were sort of holding out for new entrants and a lot of customers that were really burnt by new entrants. So I think it became obvious that Electron is kind of the rocket in the sector.

是的。嘿，Suji。我不知道具體數字，但我的意思是，去年我們看到合約簽署量有了明顯的增長。這是由多種因素造成的。我的意思是，我認為 Electron 清楚地表明了其在行業中的地位，有很多客戶都在等待新進入者，也有很多客戶對新進入者感到十分失望。因此我認為，Electron 顯然將成為該領域的火箭。

Also, I would say that we added new capabilities like HASTE, which complete new service using the same launch vehicle, which is a big TAM expansion. And so that certainly helped things.

另外，我想說的是，我們增加了新的功能，例如 HASTE，它使用同一輛運載火箭完成新服務，這是一個巨大的 TAM 擴展。這確實有幫助。

And then I would say that the number of customers, what we find is that they fly on a transporter mission, a SpaceX transporter mission to get early kind of orbit experience and shake down their spacecraft. But when they have -- when it comes time to actually delivering a spacecraft to a particular operational cadence, they need various bespoken and specific orbits and the cost trade trades pretty abruptly to be able to do that. So we see some of those, some of that defection off the transporter and onto Electron in that sense.

然後我想說的是，我們發現很多客戶都參加過一次運輸任務，一次 SpaceX 運輸任務，以獲得早期的軌道經驗並安頓他們的太空船。但是當他們——當真正需要按照特定的運行節奏交付太空船時，他們需要各種客製化的特定軌道，而且為了做到這一點，成本交易會相當突然。因此，從這個意義上來說，我們看到了一些從傳送器叛逃到電子上的東西。

Yeah. And Suji, just to come back on that, we were able to pull that number. So we booked, I believe it was seven Electron launches in 2022. So pretty big step up 2022 to 2023.

是的。Suji，回想一下，我們能夠得出這個數字。所以我們預訂了，我相信 2022 年會有七次 Electron 發射。因此，2022 年至 2023 年的進步相當大。

All right. Thanks. And then I know we talked about this early in the year, Peter, but just kind of revisit your being the prime contractor on any of the SBA. I just want to understand some of the reasons there in terms of if that's a one-off or that's a trend for the future. You guys have the integrated spaceport, rocket launch spacecraft, similar to SpaceX and Starlink perhaps. And just help us understand the competitive framework for these wins that maybe this can be a continuing trend for you.

好的。謝謝。然後我知道我們今年早些時候談過這個問題，彼得，但只是重新審視你是任何 SBA 的總承包商。我只是想了解其中的原因，例如這是一次性現象還是未來的趨勢。你們擁有綜合太空港、火箭發射太空船，可能類似 SpaceX 和 Starlink。並幫助我們了解這些勝利的競爭框架，也許這對您來說可以成為一個持續的趨勢。

Yeah, sure. I mean, look, you want to be the prime contractor. We've been a major sub on another program and it's very difficult if you're just the middle bender in a program. So prime is where we want to be. And as we look forward into future programs, that's certainly where we're positioning ourselves going forward.

是的，當然。我的意思是，你看，你想成為總承包商。我們一直是另一個項目的主要替補，如果你只是專案中間的中間人，那就非常困難了。因此，我們想要達到的水平就是最佳水平。當我們展望未來的計劃時，這肯定是我們前進的定位。

And I think we've kind of reached a critical mass point where we can be a really effective prime as well. Like we have enough capability in-house, enough experience in-house, enough satellite bus standards in-house that we can really effectively prime these missions.

我認為我們已經達到一個臨界點，在這個臨界點上我們可以成為真正有效的主體。就像我們內部有足夠的能力、足夠的經驗、足夠的衛星匯流排標準，我們可以真正有效地完成這些任務。

And it feels like a long time to get here. But I think I mentioned in the commentary, it's literally like four years from going from zero to priming a major mission. So, yeah, we'll look to continue down this path for sure.

感覺到這裡要花很久。但我想我在評論中提到過，從零到啟動一項重大任務確實花了四年時間。所以，是的，我們肯定會繼續沿著這條路走下去。

Okay. All right. Thanks, guys.

好的。好的。謝謝大家。

Mariana Perez Mora, BofA.

美國銀行的瑪麗安娜·佩雷斯·莫拉 (Mariana Perez Mora)。

Good afternoon, everyone. So my first question is a follow-up on this step-up and the bookings that you had on Electron launches. How should we think about pricing opportunities and cash profitability of this strategy? Kind of like how many open slots do you have in the near future that you could actually price opportunistically?

大家下午好。所以我的第一個問題是跟進這一舉措以及你們在 Electron 發佈時的預訂情況。我們該如何看待這項策略的定價機會和現金獲利能力？這有點像您在不久的將來有多少個開放的時段可以趁機定價？

Yeah, we've always been pretty consistent in what we kind of modelled for the cadence of Electron. I think it tapped out recruitment from wrong atoms in sort of the mid- to high 30s. Certainly, we have production capabilities to support up to 50, 52 launches a year. That's what we designed all the launch pads and factories around. So we certainly have the infrastructure to keep increasing that cadence. But that's pretty much in line with where we modelled we would be.

是的，我們對 Electron 節奏的建模始終非常一致。我認為它在 30 年代中後期從錯誤的原子中招募了人才。當然，我們的生產能力可以支援每年最多 50 到 52 次發射。這就是我們設計所有發射台和工廠的目的。所以我們當然有基礎設施來繼續提高這一節奏。但這與我們模擬的情況基本一致。

Okay, thank you. And then on Neutron, what are the next milestones that we should look at? For example, when do you expect to do the hot fire test on Archimedes?

好的，謝謝。那麼對於 Neutron，我們應該關注的下一個里程碑是什麼？例如，您預計何時對阿基米德進行熱火試驗？

Yeah, sure. So the things to be watching out for are you pouring concrete on the pad, which we are, because it requires really quite a mature design, not just on the launch vehicle, but all of the systems to be able to be putting concrete in the ground. All your vehicle interfaces and systems have to be very mature to be able to put concrete in the ground. So that's one to watch for. I'm pleased to see that it's happening.

是的，當然。因此，需要注意的是，您要在發射台上澆築混凝土，因為這需要相當成熟的設計，不僅是運載火箭，而且所有系統都必須能夠將混凝土澆築到地面上。所有車輛介面和系統都必須非常成熟才能夠將混凝土澆築到地面上。因此這是值得關注的。我很高興看到這件事正在發生。

The other one to watch for is stage one tanks and tank testing. So all the fairing components all of that coming together. There's a million other things between along the road that we could detail.

另外一個要注意的是第一階段的坦克和坦克測試。因此，所有的整流罩組件都組裝在一起。沿途還有無數的事情可供我們詳述。

And then Archimedes, the engine test cell will be ready to accept an engine in March. So we'll continue to push to get an engine out to that cell in March. And then there's a whole bunch of conditioning and testing that goes on before we go and actually make fire. But subsequent engines are right in behind that. So you won't have to wait long to see some fire, hopefully.

然後是阿基米德，引擎測試單元將在三月準備好接收引擎。因此，我們將繼續努力，爭取在三月將引擎送達該車間。在我們真正生火之前，還要進行大量的調節和測試。但後續引擎就緊跟在後。所以希望您不用等很久就能看到火光。

Okay. And then my last question is on your transfer, what is out of your control? And, for example, this morning, there was news regarding the RFP that the Virginia Space Port Authority put for the Wallops launch equipment vault. And the anticipated completion date for that is end of November. So what is out of your control in terms of actually being able to launch Neutron?

好的。我的最後一個問題是關於你的轉會，哪些是你無法控制的？例如，今天早上有關於弗吉尼亞航天港管理局為瓦洛普斯發射設備庫提出的 RFP 的消息。預計完成日期為 11 月底。那麼，就實際發射中子的能力而言，什麼是你無法控制的呢？

Well, I mean, we try and keep as much in control as possible. That's why we vertically integrate so much. But I think it's a good question. And there are some elements that are out of our control. But the way in which we develop a lot of this infrastructure is very highly managed and very hands on.

嗯，我的意思是，我們盡力保持盡可能多的控制。這就是我們進行如此多垂直整合的原因。但我認為這是個好問題。有些因素是我們無法控制的。但我們開發此類基礎設施的方式是嚴格管理的，並且非常注重實務。

And I wouldn't put too much credence in particular RFPs that went out with respect to some of those dates. I mean, I think we'll stand on our own record of developing launch pads in pretty short timeline. So, like I say, I wouldn't put too much weight on anything like that.

我不會太相信針對這些日期發出的特定 RFP。我的意思是，我認為我們將在相當短的時間內創造開發發射台的記錄。所以，就像我說的，我不會太重視任何類似的事情。

I would watch the concrete go down and watch us get us there. And then even on the equipment vaults it's nice to have the equipment in a vault, but it doesn't necessarily need to be in a vault, as an example.

我會看著混凝土下沉並看著我們到達那裡。然後，即使在設備庫中，將設備放在庫中也是很好的，但不一定需要放在庫中，舉個例子。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

Jason Gursky, Citi.

花旗銀行的傑森古爾斯基 (Jason Gursky)。

Great. Thanks. And good afternoon, everybody. Hey, just maybe I might have missed this. So, apologies if this is redundant and you can just tell me to go read the transcripts. But I do want to just ask on Neutron and the timeline of that relative to national security launch programs and Lane 1 and the timeline that's behind all of that. Can you comment on how you're tracking to your ability to bid on national security launch and those Lane 1 opportunities in front of us?

偉大的。謝謝。大家下午好。嘿，也許我錯過了這個。因此，如果這是多餘的，請原諒，你可以直接告訴我去閱讀記錄。但我確實想問一下中子以及它相對於國家安全發射計劃和第 1 號通道的時間表，以及所有這些背後的時間表。您能否評論一下您如何追蹤您競標國家安全發射的能力以及我們面前的 1 號通道機會？

Yeah, Jason. So, obviously, we're tracking that Lane 1 pretty closely. And we spend a lot of time with the Space Force to advocate for that Lane 1. And hence, the reason why we're pushing so hard to get the vehicle and in a launch for this year, because that is a gating on ramp to Lane 1.

是的，傑森。因此，顯然我們正在密切關注 1 號車道。我們花了很多時間與太空部隊一起倡導第一通道。因此，我們之所以如此努力地爭取在今年推出這款車，是因為這是通往 1 號車道的入口坡道。

Now, the good news is that those on ramps will be every year. So, it's not like a one-off opportunity. But I think this is the reason why so many engineers are sleeping under their desks at the moment to just push so hard to try and get that vehicle to the pad.

現在，好消息是這些都會每年都會出現。所以，這並不是一次性的機會。但我認為這就是為什麼現在有這麼多工程師睡在辦公桌下，拼命努力將火箭送達發射台的原因。

Okay. Well, to the extent that they're listening to this I'm ready for you guys. Let's see here. On the other press release that you put out today on the bus portfolio, it sounds to me, or in reading this, that what you're kind of doing here is productizing custom buses that you've built for some customers over time, which is --seems like a reasonable thing to do. But the question here is to understand whether the go-to-market strategy with these buses is to continue to do what you've done with MDA on Global Star, or is the go-to-market strategy, hey, we've got these buses and we'd like you. We're going to go out and sell them as a full spacecraft. We'll integrate whatever payload you need on it. Because you mentioned in earlier part of the conversation that you want to be the prime, but now you're out here with a product launch of a bunch of buses. So I just want to, help me square what you're trying to do here.

好的。好吧，既然他們正在聽這個，我已經為你們做好了準備。我們來這裡看看吧。關於您今天發布的另一篇有關公車產品組合的新聞稿，在我看來，或者在閱讀這篇文章時，您在這裡所做的就是將您長期以來為一些客戶製造的定制公交車產品化，這似乎是一件合理的事情。但這裡的問題是要了解這些巴士的行銷策略是否是繼續執行你們在 Global Star 上對 MDA 所做的事情，還是行銷策略是，嘿，我們有這些巴士，我們希望你們能參與。我們將把它們作為完整的航天器出售。我們將在其上整合您需要的任何有效載荷。因為您在之前的談話中提到過，您想成為主要的，但現在您卻在這裡推出一系列公車的產品。所以我只是想幫我解決你在這裡要做的事情。

Yeah. So we're certainly not trying to sell buses into a bus merchant market. We obviously -- as you said, we've very strategically chosen which projects that we want to undertake. And at the end of those undertakings, we've ended up with a series of buses that neatly fall into various categories. One being deep space interplanetary, one being high delta-V low Earth orbit, and one being like extreme kind of environment, long lifetime comms satellites.

是的。所以我們當然不會試著將公車賣到公車商業市場。顯然——正如您所說，我們非常有策略地選擇了我們想要開展的項目。在這些工作完成後，我們得到了一系列整齊地分為不同類別的公車。一個是深空行星際衛星，一個是高速度變化率低地球軌道衛星，還有一個是類似極端環境的長壽命通訊衛星。

So if you take the MDA bus, for example, and the SDA bus they're both built on largely the same bus. So the payloads changed, but in the bus didn't change.

以 MDA 總線和 SDA 總線為例，它們都建立在同一總線上。因此有效載荷發生了變化，但總線沒有變化。

What I will say is, is it turns out we're just not that good at naming things. And it just became intensely confusing for everybody when we said, it's a Photon bus and it, all the buses were called Photon, but yet they have vastly different capabilities and do vastly different things. So really it was the -- the bus portfolio naming was just clarifying and making it easier for people to understand that when we say it's a lightning satellite, people understand that this is a large comms bus versus an Explorer, which is a deep space interplanetary.

我想說的是，事實證明我們並不擅長命名事物。當我們說它是一條 Photon 總線時，每個人都感到非常困惑，所有的總線都被稱為 Photon，但它們的功能卻截然不同，可以做的事情也大不相同。所以實際上——總線組合命名只是為了澄清並讓人們更容易理解，當我們說它是一顆閃電衛星時，人們明白這是一個大型通訊總線，而不是一個探測器，後者是一條深空行星際衛星。

So it's not really about a particularly a marketing thing to try and sell a whole bunch of buses. It's really about helping people understand the variety and the depth of the capabilities that we've built. And then giving the -- the products have sort of evolved to the point where they really deserve their own name.

所以，這並不是什麼特別的行銷手段來試圖銷售大量公車。這實際上是為了幫助人們了解我們已經建立的功能的多樣性和深度。然後賦予——產品已經發展到真正值得擁有自己名字的地步。

Okay, great. And then last question for me the comment that you made there on the call about the skating to where the puck is going, try to understand what the long-term financial model looks like. And you mentioned where you want to eventually is in the services business.

好的，太好了。然後最後一個問題，你在電話中對冰球運動的方向所做的評論，試著了解長期的財務模型是什麼樣的。您提到您最終想進入的是服務業。

So I wonder if you can maybe double click on that a little bit more and help us understand what you mean by that exactly. Because when I think of services, I think of you build, launch, and then operate a constellation of various satellites that have different capabilities on them. And that becomes a bit different capital intensity, I think, maybe relative to what you're doing today. So maybe just help us kind of broadly understand what you're trying to get done here.

所以我想知道您是否可以再雙擊一下並幫助我們理解您這句話的確切含義。因為當我想到服務時，我會想到建造、發射然後操作具有不同功能的各種衛星星座。我認為，這可能與你今天所做的相比，資本密集度有點不同。所以也許只是幫助我們大致了解你在這裡想要做的事情。

Yeah, yeah, of course. So, I mean, look, this is something we've always talked about from day one. And in part, the reason why we're developing Neutron is so that we have our own keys to space for this particular profile of business. And if you look at the value in the space industry, like launches that call it a $10 billion, $15 billion TAM, space systems, $20 billion to $30 billion TAM, services in space, $320 billion TAM.

是的，是的，當然。所以，我的意思是，看，這是我們從第一天起就一直在談論的事情。我們開發 Neutron 的部分原因是為了讓我們擁有針對這項特定業務的太空鑰匙。如果你看看航太產業的價值，例如發射，其 TAM 為 100 億美元、150 億美元，太空系統，TAM 為 200 億至 300 億美元，太空服務，TAM 為 3200 億美元。

And if you look at if you read any of the reports where the space industry is, the value of the space industry going, whether it's a $1 trillion or $2 trillion, pick your report. It's always true that the vast majority of all of that TAM is going to reside in the services that you provide, not being the freight truck that gets it there, or the car builder that builds the truck. It's actually the service.

如果您閱讀過任何有關航太產業的報告，請看看航太產業的價值，無論是 1 兆美元還是 2 兆美元，請選擇您的報告。始終如一的是，所有 TAM 中的絕大部分都將存在於您所提供的服務中，而不是將貨物運送到目的地的貨運卡車或製造卡車的汽車製造商。這實際上是一種服務。

And what we've been very methodically going about doing is building all the infrastructure that we need to be able to ultimately provide a service. Now that the natural question that always comes after that is, well, what service are you going to provide? And I don't think we're ready to talk about any of that yet. But what I can say is that when we look to go jump into that larger TAM, we will have a very disruptive way of going in there and executing and providing that service, because we will be able to build whatever spacecraft we require using all of our own components, and it will fly in our own rocket.

我們一直在有條不紊地建造最終提供服務所需的所有基礎設施。那麼，接下來自然而然會出現一個問題：您要提供什麼服務？但我認為我們還沒準備好談論這些事情。但我可以說的是，當我們尋求進入更大的TAM時，我們將採用一種非常顛覆性的方式進入並執行和提供該服務，因為我們將能夠使用我們自己的所有組件建造我們所需的任何航天器，並且它將乘坐我們自己的火箭飛行。

And I think you've seen one other real-life example of that with Starlink and with internet and space. And it's very, very difficult to compete with that unless you have your own ability to manufacture satellites using your own components and your own ability to launch those said satellites. So we're just marching very methodically towards that step after step.

我認為你已經在 Starlink 以及互聯網和太空中看到了另一個現實生活中的例子。除非你有能力使用自己的零件製造衛星，並有能力發射這些衛星，否則要與之競爭是非常非常困難的。所以我們正有條不紊地一步步朝著這個目標前進。

Right. Okay. But you've got Starlink, Kuiper OneWeb's out there. I mean, this is on the comm side, it's a pretty crowded market today. And then on the earth observation side, plenty of competitors out there. Can you help us dream big on what other buckets are out there?

正確的。好的。但你已經有了 Starlink 和 Kuiper OneWeb。我的意思是，從通訊方面來看，當今的市場相當擁擠。在地球觀測方面，有許多競爭對手。您能幫助我們展望還有哪些其他的儲存桶嗎？

Well, I mean, I think there's a lot of business plans that are, that are kind of being put to the test right now. Like is internet from space really a large opportunity or not. But the one thing that I can say is absolutely clear is that if you want to be competitive in there, then you have to own your own rocket and build your own satellite.

嗯，我的意思是，我認為現在有很多商業計劃正在接受考驗。例如，太空網路是否真的是一個巨大的機會？但我可以非常清楚地說，如果你想在那裡具有競爭力，那麼你必須擁有自己的火箭並建造自己的衛星。

So like I say, it's, it's way too early for us to be discussing what kind of service we think we think we can provide. But what I'm absolutely sure of is that when we decide to go into a particular area, we will be highly competitive because of things.

所以就像我說的，現在討論我們認為我們可以提供什麼樣的服務還為時過早。但我絕對確信的是，當我們決定進入某個特定領域時，我們將面臨激烈的競爭力。

And the large space companies of the future, in my opinion, are not going to be just a satellite manufacturer or just a launch vehicle provider. If you can do everything end to end, then you can optimize not only the launch, but also the spacecraft for the service all the other elements that go into the compromises that you have to make. And yeah, that's what we're setting ourselves up to be.

我認為，未來的大型太空公司將不僅僅是衛星製造商或運載火箭提供者。如果你能從頭到尾完成所有工作，那麼你不僅可以優化發射，還可以優化太空船，以服務你必須做出的妥協的所有其他元素。是的，這就是我們的目標。

Okay, great. Well, I look forward to having more conversations with you all about this over time as you make some decisions. Thanks.

好的，太好了。好吧，我期待在你們做出一些決定時與你們就此進行更多的對話。謝謝。

Edison Yu, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的 Edison Yu。

Hey, thanks for taking the questions in and squeezing me in. Just one follow-up on the last topic on the Constellation. I know you said it's too early, but what kind of timeline do you think that's on? Is that three, five, six years out from now? When would that kind of materialize in your view?

嘿，謝謝你回答這些問題並給我時間來參加。這只是關於星座的最後一個主題的後續問題。我知道您說現在還太早，但是您認為這是按照什麼樣的時間表進行的？那是從現在起的三、五、六年後嗎？您認為什麼時候這種情況才會實現？

Look, I'd say it's even too early for that. Like we have to build the foundations of being able to effectively provide that. And really all focus is on Neutron. All efforts are on Neutron because Neutron is critical for -- to execute that business model, but it's also critical for other parts of the business. So really I'd say a strong focus is on getting Neutron to the pad because without Neutron on the pad, then it makes it difficult to be hugely disruptive in the services market.

瞧，我想說現在說這個還太早。就像我們必須建立能夠有效提供這一點的基礎。事實上，所有的焦點都集中在 Neutron 上。所有的努力都集中在 Neutron 上，因為 Neutron 對於執行該業務模型至關重要，但對於業務的其他部分也至關重要。因此，我真正要說的重點是將 Neutron 送上發射台，因為如果 Neutron 沒有送上發射台，就很難在服務市場中產生巨大的顛覆性影響。

Understood. And then separately back to Neutron, I know you mentioned the ramp up being to three and then to five. Is that going to be the kind of steady state or do we think we can do more than that once we ramp up fully per year?

明白了。然後分別回到 Neutron，我知道您提到先增加到三，然後再增加到五。這會成為一種穩定狀態，或者我們認為一旦我們每年全面提升，我們可以做得更多？

Well, I mean, of course we'd love to do more, but I mean, I've ridden this donkey before and it's a rough ride and bringing a new vehicle to life is very difficult. Bring it into production is even more, more difficult, much more difficult. So it would be great to accelerate that. But if you look at the back, you look at the history of every rocket program, whether it be government or commercial a cadence much larger than that is never been achieved. So Electron was the fastest to scale in time, just out of just about every rocket program. And that is a very, very difficult thing to do. So we just want to be realistic about what can be achieved.

嗯，我的意思是，我們當然願意做更多，但我的意思是，我以前騎過這頭驢子，這是一次艱難的旅程，讓一輛新車煥發活力非常困難。將其投入生產則更加困難，困難得多。因此，如果能加速這一進程就太好了。但如果你回顧過去，看看每個火箭計畫的歷史，無論是政府的還是商業的，都沒有實現比這更大的節奏。因此，在幾乎所有火箭計劃中，Electron 的擴展速度最快。這是一件非常非常困難的事。因此，我們只是想現實地看待我們能取得的成就。

Okay. Thanks a lot.

好的。多謝。

Michael Leshock, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

KeyBanc 資本市場公司的 Michael Leshock。

I just had one more on Neutron spending with the quarter a bit elevated on the spending side. And you mentioned this being the big spending year for Neutron. Is that going to be lumpy quarter to quarter going forward as you have more visibility surrounding some of these milestones? Are there pockets where you see more elevated spending in a particular quarter? Or should we think about it relatively linear?

我剛剛又談了一次關於中子支出的問題，本季的支出方面略有增加。您曾經提到，今年是 Neutron 支出最大的一年。隨著您對這些里程碑事件的了解越來越多，未來每季的業績是否會波動？您是否發現某個季度的某些領域的支出增加？或者我們應該以相對線性的方式去思考它？

Yeah, so I'll take that one. So yeah, the spending is certainly going to be -- I think you'd expect it to be consistently up into the right as we progress through 2024. And then again, once we get the first vehicle to the pad, that's where -- that'll be the cresting point. Now, we'll continue to invest in the vehicle, just like we've continued to invest, but on a much more modest level in Electron, for example.

是的，我選擇這個。是的，支出肯定會 — — 我認為你會期望到 2024 年，支出會持續上升。再說了，一旦我們將第一輛飛行器送達發射台，那就是——那就是頂峰。現在，我們將繼續對汽車進行投資，就像我們之前對 Electron 等項目的投資一樣，但是投資規模會小得多。

So I think that, yeah, there's no question that we'll see a consistent kind of march up into the right this year with Neutron spend. Now from an overall impact on the P&L we'll have some growth in top line and some margin expansion that helps accommodate some of that. But as I mentioned earlier, really kind of growth on the top line and margin expansion gets consumed by kind of the size and magnitude of timing of Neutron.

因此，我認為，是的，毫無疑問，今年我們將看到 Neutron 支出持續向右邁進。現在從對損益表的整體影響來看，我們的營業額將會成長，利潤率也將有所提高，這有助於適應其中的一些影響。但正如我之前提到的，營收成長和利潤率擴張實際上受到 Neutron 的規模和時序影響。

And then on the overall budget for Neutron, how do you view that versus your initial expectations there? And then maybe secondly, is there a portion of the $355 million converts that's earmarked to support Neutron directly, or is that more inorganic capital deployment there? Thanks.

那麼，就 Neutron 的整體預算而言，您如何看待它與您最初的預期相比？然後也許是其次，3.55 億美元的轉換資金中是否有一部分專門用於直接支援 Neutron，或者是否有更多的無機資本部署在那裡？謝謝。

Yeah. So we, I guess the, on the spend for Neutron related to the capital rate. So the convert that we just did is really capital that's dedicated towards growing the business inorganically. So we have plenty of capital prior to the capital raised to do exactly what we said we were going to do, which was bring Neutron to the pad within a certain time period. So when we came public about two and a half years ago, we said end of 2024, a budget of roughly $250 million to $300 million. And that was going to be apportioned across CapEx spend plus R&D. With an R&D, it was going to be a mix, obviously, of people related, but also prototyping and so forth.

是的。因此，我猜測，我們對 Neutron 的支出與資本利率有關。因此，我們剛才進行的轉換實際上是用於無機業務成長的資本。因此，在籌集資金之前，我們有足夠的資金來實現我們的目標，在一定時間內將 Neutron 帶到發射台。因此，當我們大約兩年半前上市時，我們表示到 2024 年底的預算約為 2.5 億至 3 億美元。這將在資本支出和研發支出中分攤。對於研發來說，顯然它將是一個與人員相關的混合體，但也包括原型設計等等。

So we are, I would say, remarkably intact on the estimates that were put in place at the time, both in obviously getting the vehicle to pad, but also the spend. If you look at the amounts that we've spent so far for the Neutron program, we're -- it's a combination of kind of what we've spent, plus we've had some partners help spend along the way, including, and we've mentioned the upper stage development partnership with Space Force.

因此，我想說，我們完全按照當時制定的估算行事，顯然既包括讓車輛達到預期，也包括支出。如果你看看我們迄今為止為中子計畫花費的金額，這是我們自己花費的資金加上一些合作夥伴在這一過程中提供的幫助的組合，其中包括我們提到過的與太空部隊的上級開發夥伴關係。

We've had strong partnership from Virginia Space on the infrastructure side to help kind of accommodate some of those expenses. And so overall, we kind of pull all the costs in this year is another, is a year where we'll probably deploy roughly, call it a half -- sorry, $100 million towards the Neutron program, again, across CapEx and R&D spend. And then there'll be incremental dollars that are spent on our behalf. So I think ultimately, when you kind of pull it all together across what we've spent, what we're going to spend this year, plus what our partners have put in play for us, it's going to be remarkably close to that $300 million.

我們在基礎設施方面與維吉尼亞空間公司建立了強有力的合作夥伴關係，以幫助我們承擔部分費用。因此總體而言，我們今年會收回所有成本，在這一年中，我們可能會向 Neutron 專案投入約一半——抱歉，1 億美元，包括資本支出和研發支出。然後我們就會花越來越多的錢。因此我認為，最終，當你把我們已經花費的、今年將要花費的以及我們的合作夥伴為我們投入的資金加在一起時，這個數字將非常接近 3 億美元。

And again, longer term, that gets you what we call minimum viable product to the pad as far as the rocket, and then also minimum viable infrastructure, and infrastructure, meaning the pad plus the manufacturing. So one of the things that we benefited from last year was the opportunity to acquire a bunch of scaling assets in the Virgin Orbit bankruptcy process, where we picked up roughly $100 million worth of stuff for $0.16 on the dollar. And a lot of it that allowed us to kind of, I would say, kind of hold schedules in a lot of important ways, and also just to kind of have the ability to scale production of the vehicle without having to put a lot more infrastructure in place is certainly from a propulsion and avionics perspective.

再說一次，從長遠來看，這會將我們所謂的最小可行產品帶到火箭發射台，然後是最小可行基礎設施和基礎設施，即發射台和製造業。因此，去年我們受益的一件事是，在 Virgin Orbit 破產過程中，我們有機會收購大量擴大規模的資產，我們以每股 0.16 美元的價格收購了價值約 1 億美元的資產。我想說，從推進和航空電子的角度來看，這在很大程度上使我們能夠在許多重要的方面保持進度，並且能夠擴大飛行器的生產規模，而不必投入更多的基礎設施。

So I think overall, I'm actually pretty pleased with, again, the adherence to the timelines and the overall budgets, and nothing has really stepped away from us at this point, knock on wood, it would be that way till we get the vehicle to the pad.

所以我認為總的來說，我實際上非常滿意，再次強調，我們能夠遵守時間表並完成總體預算，目前為止，沒有什麼事情真正阻礙我們完成任務，敲敲木頭，直到我們把車輛送到發射台上，情況都會一直如此。

Okay, great. Thank you for taking my question.

好的，太好了。感謝您回答我的問題。

Closing the Q&A session, I'd now like to hand back over to the management for their final remarks.

在結束問答環節後，我現在想將權力交還給管理階層，請他們作最後的發言。

Brilliant. Okay, well, that wraps up today's presentation. Thanks, everyone, for joining us to the call. Rocket Lab will be participating in these up-and-coming conferences, and we look forward to the opportunity to share more exciting news and updates with you then. Thanks very much.

傑出的。好的，今天的演講就到此結束。感謝大家參加此次電話會議。Rocket Lab 將參加這些即將舉行的會議，我們期待有機會與您分享更多令人興奮的消息和更新。非常感謝。

Thank you for attending today's session. We hope you have a wonderful day.

感謝您參加今天的會議。我們希望您度過美好的一天。