Rocket Lab Corp (RKLB) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Rocket Lab Corporation Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call.

大家好，歡迎參加火箭實驗室公司第三季財報電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Please note this event is being recorded. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Murielle Baker, Director of Corporate and Launch Communications. Please go ahead.

請注意，本次活動正在錄影。現在，我謹將會議交給企業及發布傳播總監穆里爾‧貝克。請繼續。

Thank you. Hello, and welcome to today's conference call to discuss Rocket Lab's Third Quarter 2025 financial results, business highlights and other updates. 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 Securities and Exchange Commission.

謝謝。大家好，歡迎參加今天的電話會議，我們將討論 Rocket Lab 2025 年第三季的財務業績、業務亮點和其他最新進展。在電話會議開始之前，我想提醒各位，我們的發言可能包含有關公司未來業績的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述旨在符合《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所規定的免責安全港條款。任何此類聲明均不構成對未來業績的保證，可能影響我們業績的因素已在今天的新聞稿中重點提及，其他因素則包含在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中。

Such statements are based upon information available to the company as of the date hereof and are subject to change for future developments. Except as required by law, the company does not undertake any obligation to update these statements. Our remarks and press release today also contain non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G enacted by the SEC. Included in such release and our supplemental materials, a reconciliations of these historical non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

上述聲明均基於本公司截至本聲明發布之日所掌握的信息，並可能因未來發展而有所變更。除法律另有規定外，本公司不承擔更新這些聲明的任何義務。我們今天的演講和新聞稿還包含符合美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 頒布的 G 條例規定的非公認會計準則 (非 GAAP) 財務指標。在上述新聞稿和我們的補充資料中，包含了這些歷史性的非GAAP財務指標與依照GAAP計算的可比較財務指標的調節表。

This call is also being webcast with a supporting presentation end of replay and copy of the presentation will be available on our website. Our speakers today are Rocket Lab Founder and Chief Executive Officer; Sir Peter Beck as well as Chief Financial Officer, Adam Spice. They will be discussing key business highlights, including updates on our Launch and Space Systems programs, and we will discuss financial highlights and outlook before we finish by taking questions. So with that, let me turn the call over to Sir Peter.

本次電話會議也將進行網路直播，並附有簡報。會議結束後，回放和簡報的副本將在我們的網站上提供。我們今天的演講嘉賓是 Rocket Lab 的創始人兼執行長 Peter Beck 爵士以及財務長 Adam Spice。他們將討論重要的業務亮點，包括我們的發射和太空系統專案的最新進展，我們將討論財務亮點和展望，最後回答問題。那麼，接下來我將把電話交給彼得爵士。

Thanks, Murielle, and thanks, everybody, for joining us today. With another record-breaking quarter for Rocket Lab, we're up 48% year-on-year with $155 million of revenue and strong gross margins as well. This is the second time in a row we've delivered record-breaking growth quarter-by-quarter, once again demonstrating our relentless execution.

謝謝穆里爾，也謝謝大家今天收看我們的節目。Rocket Lab 又迎來了一個破紀錄的季度，營收年增 48%，達到 1.55 億美元，毛利率也十分強勁。這已是我們連續第二季實現破紀錄的成長，再次證明了我們堅持不懈的執行力。

Electron demand is accelerating faster than ever before, and the momentum continues to build with our largest Launch contract backlog yet with 49 launches on contract. We've just launched our 16th mission this year, equaling last year's launch record, and we've got another launch scheduled in the coming days that will take us to 17 with more to come and a new precedent for electronic annual launch cadence, and we see this precedent continue in 2026 as well.

電子火箭的需求成長速度比以往任何時候都快，而且這種勢頭還在持續增強，我們迄今為止最大的發射合約積壓量已達 49 個發射項目。我們剛剛發射了今年的第 16 次任務，追平了去年的發射記錄，未來幾天我們還計劃進行另一次發射，這將使我們的發射次數達到 17 次，未來還會有更多發射，這將為電子年度發射節奏樹立新的先例，我們預計這一先例將在 2026 年繼續保持。

Amazing performance is also the theme across our Space Systems Groups. Twin Spacecraft for NASA Mars mission are integrated onto its launch vehicle and are really lift off in Cape Canaveral in the coming days. In Neutron, we've got a full update to share on our progress to the pad following the official opening of the launch complex in August, ticking off a critical milestone in the program. We'll share more detail about that in the upcoming slides.

卓越的性能也是我們所有航太系統集團的主題。美國太空總署火星任務的兩艘太空船已整合到運載火箭上，並將於未來幾天在卡納維爾角正式發射升空。在 Neutron 中，我們將分享我們在發射台建設方面的全面進展，此前發射場已於 8 月正式開放，這標誌著該計劃的一個關鍵里程碑已經達成。我們將在接下來的幻燈片中分享更多細節。

So before we get into it, I want to zoom out and talk about our performance over the last 5 years. Given this is sort of a little bit of a wrap up for the year in some respects. Execution and reliability are critical in this base industry, but even more so in the public markets. And their ability to consistently deliver results for our customers, expand our capabilities and grow our revenue and gross margins really sets us apart in the sector as we set new benchmarks for operational and financial success.

所以在深入探討之前，我想先回顧一下我們過去 5 年的表現。從某種意義上說，這算是今年的總結。執行力和可靠性在這個基礎產業中至關重要，但在公開市場中則更為重要。他們持續為我們的客戶帶來成果、拓展我們的能力、提高我們的收入和毛利率，這真正使我們在業界中脫穎而出，因為我們為營運和財務成功設定了新的標竿。

From $35 million in revenue just 5 years ago to implied full year guidance of roughly $600 million at the midpoint, an approximately 1,600% increase over that time period. And the gross margins are looking great to from negative 34% GAAP gross margin to the midpoint of our implied full year guidance of slightly over 34% positive in 2025 and looking great [deep] at '25 with an even higher 37% to 39% in the fourth quarter. Our position as a leading end-to-end space company has never been stronger. We're a trusted disruptor of the industry, and we're proving that we can move quickly to scale our products and our services across both Launch and Space Systems and that focus is translating into the double-digit growth results you're seeing on the page here.

五年前，公司營收僅 3,500 萬美元，而預計全年營收中位數將達到約 6 億美元，增幅約 1,600%。毛利率前景一片光明，從 GAAP 毛利率負 34% 到我們全年預期中略高於 34% 的正值，到 2025 年將達到這一水平，而且到 2025 年第四季度，毛利率有望進一步提高到 37% 至 39%。我們作為領先的端到端航太公司的地位從未如此穩固。我們是值得信賴的產業顛覆者，我們正在證明，我們可以快速擴展我們在發射和航太系統領域的產品和服務，而這種專注正在轉化為您在此頁面上看到的兩位數成長成果。

Right, on to Electron. So as the title says, it's been a record-breaking quarter for Launch contracts. 17 dedicated launches were signed in just 3 months, but -- all but 2 of them were signed with international customers from Japan, Korea and Europe. Those new missions, plus the ones already on the books for international space agencies like ESA and JAXA prove Electron is not just a leading launch vehicle in the United States, but it's becoming the preferred small launch vehicle globally. Electron's business model is one of scheduled flexibility for our customers, and you can see from these new bookings, demand is stronger and growing for Electron.

好的，接下來就是Electron。如標題所示，本季是Launch合約創紀錄的一個季度。短短三個月內就簽署了17份專屬發射合同，但其中除兩份外，其餘全部是與來自日本、韓國和歐洲的國際客戶簽訂的。這些新任務，加上歐洲太空總署 (ESA) 和日本宇宙航空研究開發機構 (JAXA) 等國際航太機構已經安排的任務，證明「電子號」不僅是美國領先的運載火箭，而且正在成為全球首選的小型運載火箭。Electron 的商業模式是為客戶提供靈活的日程安排，從這些新的預訂可以看出，市場對 Electron 的需求更加強勁且不斷增長。

The HASTE, our hypersonic test vehicle, continues to redefine the way technology has been developed and tested in the United States.

我們的高超音速試驗飛行器 HASTE 不斷重新定義美國技術開發和測試的方式。

In Q3, we launched back-to-back missions from Launch complex to in Virginia with 100% mission success, enabling technology to be tested in real life hypersonic environments, which is a critical capability for the next-generation defense programs like Golden Dome. By leveraging our commercial speed, our vertical integration and our execution history with Electron, HASTE delivers the proven agility and responsiveness that are these programs demand. Speaking of momentum, we're on track to fly our 17th launch of the year in the next few days, which will officially surpass our previous annual launch record set in 2024. This pace is only possible because we are very intentional about designing Electron for scale. This extends beyond the vehicle itself to all the supporting infrastructure like manufacturing, processing and operating a high-volume launch range infrastructure as well.

第三季度，我們從維吉尼亞州的發射場連續發射了多個任務，任務成功率達到 100%，這使得技術能夠在真實的超音速環境中進行測試，這對於像金穹頂這樣的下一代國防項目來說是一項至關重要的能力。憑藉我們在商業上的速度、垂直整合以及與 Electron 合作的執行經驗，HASTE 能夠提供這些專案所需的成熟敏捷性和回應能力。說到勢頭，我們預計在未來幾天內完成今年的第 17 次發射，這將正式超過我們在 2024 年創下的年度發射記錄。之所以能取得這樣的進展，是因為我們非常注重將 Electron 設計成可擴展的。這不僅限於車輛本身，還包括所有配套基礎設施，例如製造、加工和營運高產量發射場基礎設施​​。

It's an important approach that we're deploying for Neutron too, ensuring that we're thinking well beyond first flight. As of right now, there are only 3 American commercial launch providers who have launched to orbit more than once this year Space X, ULA and of course, us, which really does highlight just how [ real ] Electron's capabilities are.

這也是我們在 Neutron 專案上採用的重要方法，確保我們的思考能夠超越首次飛行。截至目前，只有 3 家美國商業發射服務供應商今年已多次將太空船送入軌道：SpaceX、ULA，當然還有我們自己。這確實凸顯了 Electron 飛船的強大性能。

Now let's turn to Space Systems. Starting up with -- starting off with a little bit of an update for M&A for the quarter. We closed the geos deal to create a new [Pilots] business unit, strengthening our offering as a prime contractor for national security programs like Golden Dome and for the Space Development Agency. With our history and expertise in buying and expanding smaller shops to meet industry demand, we're turning our attention now to scaling our new electro-optical and infrared sensors for lucrative future contracts. We're also closer to acquiring Laser communications company, Mynaric.

現在我們來看空間系統。首先，讓我們簡單更新一下本季的併購情況。我們完成了對 Geos 的交易，創建了一個新的 [Pilots] 業務部門，從而加強了我們作為國家安全項目（如金穹頂）和太空發展局的主要承包商的服務能力。憑藉我們過去收購和擴建小型店鋪以滿足行業需求的經驗和專業知識，我們現在正將注意力轉向擴大我們新型光電和紅外線感測器的規模，以期獲得未來利潤豐厚的合約。我們距離收購雷射通訊公司 Mynaric 也更近了一步。

They have completed their financial restructure under German law in August, which was a pivotal moment in the acquisition process and one that brings us nearer to closing out this deal.

他們已在 8 月按照德國法律完成了財務重組，這是收購過程中的一個關鍵時刻，也讓我們離完成這筆交易更近了一步。

Rocket Lab has been a force multiplier for the U.S.-based industry, and we're ready to bring that same energy to the European space sector with our first European foothold and expansion into Germany. As for what's next, we've built up our dry powder for future M&A with more than $1 billion in liquidity following at the market offering program implemented in September. It was a very strategic move to lock in capital that will allow us to act quickly on some of the exciting opportunities in the pipeline. We're not ready to reveal the details of these strategic plays just yet, but I can assure you that the pipeline is active. We've always taken a disciplined approach to acquisitions and our successful track record speaks for itself.

Rocket Lab 一直是美國航太工業的倍增器，我們準備將同樣的活力帶到歐洲航太領域，首次在歐洲站穩腳跟，並向德國擴張。至於下一步，我們已經為未來的併購累積了充足的資金，繼 9 月實施的市場發行計畫之後，我們獲得了超過 10 億美元的流動資金。這是一個非常具有戰略意義的舉措，可以鎖定資金，使我們能夠迅速抓住一些正在醞釀中的令人興奮的機會。我們目前還不便透露這些策略舉措的細節，但我可以向你們保證，相關工作正在積極推進。我們一直以來都採取嚴謹的收購方式，而我們過往的成功業績就是最好的證明。

We've got a bit of a neck for identifying, acquiring and then integrating businesses that enhance our end-to-end capabilities and make us a stronger competitor for large-scale programs. And that's made us the consolidator of choice for many companies in the space sector. We're often the ones being approached first by companies wanting to join Rocket Lab now because they see the value we create for growth and innovation.

我們很擅長識別、收購和整合那些能夠增強我們端到端能力並使我們成為大型專案更強大競爭對手的企業。這使我們成為航太領域眾多公司的首選整合商。現在，許多想要加入 Rocket Lab 的公司都會先聯繫我們，因為他們看到了我們為成長和創新創造的價值。

On to outcoming Space Systems missions. We're a few days away from two of our spacecraft launching for the ESCAPADE mission. And the initial launch attempt was unfortunately scrubbed by the launch provider yesterday. But by this time, Wednesday, they're scheduled to be launched from Cape Canaveral, and they'll be on their way to Mars. Now what makes this mission truly groundbreaking is that we're tackling these interplanetary challenges with spacecraft built for an order of magnitude less than the usual cost developed in about 1/3 of the time.

接下來是即將執行的太空系統任務。再過幾天，我們的兩艘太空船將發射升空，執行 ESCAPADE 任務。很遺憾，昨天發射服務商取消了首次發射嘗試。但到週三這個時候，它們應該會從卡納維拉爾角發射升空，然後踏上前往火星的旅程。這項任務真正具有突破性意義的地方在於，我們用比通常成本低一個數量級、開發時間僅需三分之一左右的太空船來應對這些行星際挑戰。

We're proving an entirely new, more accessible model for seeding satellites to other planets. In short, this mission is a tough one, both in flight and in the design, but of course, we love a challenge. Another program with Big Green Tech this quarter is our transport layer Constellation for the Space Development Agency which is cleared critical design review to be able to move it into spacecraft production now while existing and contract fully funded contracts like a $0.5 billion program can continue under the government shutdown, the situation does continue to have an impact on the timing of new awards for the SDA Tranche-3 constellation.

我們正在證明一種全新的、更易於實現的向其他行星發射衛星的模型。簡而言之，這項任務無論在飛行方面還是設計方面都很艱難，但我們當然喜歡挑戰。本季度與 Big Green Tech 合作的另一個項目是為太空發展局 (SDA) 開發的傳輸層星座，該項目已通過關鍵設計審查，現在可以投入太空船生產。雖然像 5 億美元項目這樣的現有合約和全額資助的合約可以在政府停擺期間繼續進行，但這種情況仍然會影響 SDA Tranche-3 星座新合約的授予時間。

Neutron, all right. Moving on from Space Systems. Let me give you a bit of an update on Neutron the quarter. Now I've spent a lot of my time in the recent weeks, [ Albo to Albo ] with the teams at the various sites participated for Neutron testing. I have to say, I'm extremely happy with the progress, but more than that are the thoroughness of the team during this critical qualification in the acceptance testing phase.

好的，中子。接下來，我們繼續探討空間系統的問題。讓我來給大家簡單報告一下本季 Neutron 專案的最新進展。最近幾週，我花了很多時間[Albo to Albo]與參與中子測試的各個站點的團隊在一起。我必須說，我對目前的進展非常滿意，但更讓我滿意的是團隊在驗收測試階段這一關鍵認證過程中展現出的嚴謹細緻。

We're into the big [meaty] bits in the [meaty] test where we have whole systems integrated together in large subassemblies. This is a time when you find out on the ground what you got right and what you got wrong and of course, rather than finding out that during first launch.

我們現在進入了測試的重點部分，也就是將整個系統整合到大型子元件中。這是你在實際操作中發現哪些地方做對了，哪些地方做錯了的時候，當然，這比在第一次發射時發現這些問題要好得多。

Now at Rocket Lab, we have a proven process for delivering and developing complex space flight hardware. And I think that process speaks for itself with respect to our hardware always looking beautiful, and more importantly, always working beautifully. Now our process is meticulous, but it works. Take Electron, for example, it's the world's most frequently launched small launch vehicle, as we all know. And we scaled the production and launch of it faster than any other commercial launch vehicle history, which is great.

現在，火箭實驗室已經擁有了一套成熟的流程，用於交付和開發複雜的航太飛行硬體。我認為這個過程本身就說明了我們的硬體始終外觀精美，更重要的是，始終運作良好。現在我們的流程雖然繁瑣，但行之有效。以「電子號」為例，眾所周知，它是世界上發射次數最多的小型運載火箭。而且，我們以比歷史上任何其他商業運載火箭更快的速度擴大了它的生產和發射規模，這非常棒。

But if we think about how many others have tried to develop a launch, the results have been extremely poor. Those who have failed to deliver a numerous basically, every new space company, except Rocket Lab and SpaceX has failed to build an orbital rocket that is scaled to any kind of launch cadence and is reliable.

但如果我們想想還有多少人嘗試開發發射裝置，我們會發現結果都非常糟糕。除了 Rocket Lab 和 SpaceX 之外，幾乎所有新的航太公司都未能製造出能夠滿足任何發射頻率且可靠的軌道火箭。

Now this is the Rocket Lab process in action and I've been resolute about sticking to this approach. Now with all the hardware in front of us now and significant testing programs underway across all parts of the vehicle, we can see we need a little bit more time to retire the risks and stick to the Rocket Lab process. Yes, it might mean things will take a little bit longer, but I want to give some context here. I mean, the labor cost for the program is about [ $15 million ] a quarter, which we make back 4x over a single launch anyway. So it makes sense to change what we know and what has proven to work.

這就是 Rocket Lab 流程的實際應用，我一直決心堅持這種方法。現在，所有硬體都已準備就緒，車輛的各個部分也正在進行大量的測試，我們可以看出，我們需要更多的時間來消除風險，並堅持火箭實驗室的流程。是的，這可能意味著事情會花費更長時間，但我想在這裡提供一些背景資訊。我的意思是，該專案的勞動成本大約是每季 1,500 萬美元，而我們單次發射就能收回 4 倍的成本。所以，改變我們已知的和已被證明行之有效的方法，是合情合理的。

So we're aiming to get to a new trend of the pad in Q1 next year, if all goes well with the first launch thereafter. Once again, though, that's provided that myself and the team are confident we have completed Neutron's goal testing and acceptance testing program to the Rocket Lab's standard. As always, this is a Rocket Program. So has been completed at a pace and a cost that nobody has achieved before. And the financial and long-term impacts are insignificant to take a little bit more time to get it right.

因此，如果首款產品發布一切順利，我們的目標是在明年第一季引領平板電腦的新潮流。不過，前提是我和我的團隊確信我們已經按照火箭實驗室的標準完成了 Neutron 的目標測試和驗收測試程序。一如既往，這是一項火箭計劃。因此，該項目以前所未有的速度和成本完成了。多花點時間把事情做好，從財務和長期影響來看微不足道。

Now we've set high expectations for new transfers flight. Our aim is to make it to orbit on the first try. You won't see us minimizing some qualifier about us just clearing the pad and claim and success and whatnot. And that means that we don't want to learn something during neutrons first flight that could be learned on the ground during the testing phase. At the end of the day, Neutron fly when we're very confident it's ready and we're not going to break the mold of the Rocket Lab magic.

現在我們對新的轉機航班寄予厚望。我們的目標是第一次嘗試就成功進入軌道。你不會看到我們淡化任何關於我們只是清理場地、索賠、成功等等的限定條件。這意味著我們不希望在中子首次飛行中學到一些在地面測試階段就能學到的東西。歸根結底，只有當我們非常有信心 Neutron 火箭準備就緒時，我們才會讓它飛行，我們不會打破 Rocket Lab 的神奇模式。

Now over the next few slides, I want to take you through some of the testing campaigns we've been running to paint a bit of a picture of what it takes to deliver a reliable rocket to the launch pad. As you've seen for some time, we're very hardware rich across the entire vehicle. Now it's all in sort of assembly and qualification and acceptance testing before it's all brought together under the East Coast site. Okay. So these pitches are just a snapshot of many of those activities.

接下來的幾張投影片，我想帶大家了解我們一直在進行的一些測試活動，以便讓大家對將一枚可靠的火箭送到發射台上需要做些什麼有所了解。正如您一段時間以來所看到的，我們整車的硬體配置都非常豐富。現在所有設備都處於組裝、鑑定和驗收測試階段，之後才會全部運到東海岸的工廠進行組裝。好的。所以這些推介會只是眾多活動中的縮影。

We're deep diving into the qualification, test and acceptance of every major assembly, subassembly and system before we get into launch operations. In fact, I'd say we're putting Neutron through an even more extensive barrage testing than we did Electron because it's not your kind of conventional rocket that we're developing. We have a couple of novel things being the world first architecture like Hungry Hippo appearing, that has been a second stage and the vehicle itself is, let's not forget, is the world's largest flying carbon composite structure ever built.

在進入發射操作之前，我們將對每個主要組件、子組件和系統進行深入的鑑定、測試和驗收。事實上，我認為我們對「中子」火箭的彈幕測試比對「電子」火箭進行的測試還要廣泛，因為我們正在開發的不是那種傳統的火箭。我們有一些新穎之處，例如世界上第一個像「飢餓河馬」這樣的建築，這是第二階段，而且別忘了，這輛車本身是迄今為止建造的世界上最大的飛行碳複合材料結構。

So we're making tremendous progress in these structures, testing across all levels of the vehicle. Every one of Neutron's major structures are tested on the ground to the levels that exceed what the Rocket may see in flight. This includes testing of our primary structures like propellant tanks, thrust structures, the end of stage pushing them all to their limits to ensure they meet the demands of launch and reusability. Before we can call this qualified, we go through a full run of load cases like axial lateral torsional transient and combined loads. The main and primary structures must withstand a lift off of 1.5 million pounds of thrust from the Archimedes engines.

因此，我們在這些結構方面取得了巨大的進展，並對車輛的各個層面進行了測試。Neutron 的每個主要結構都在地面上進行了測試，其強度遠超火箭在飛行中可能遇到的強度。這包括對我們的主要結構（如推進劑儲罐、推力結構、級末段）進行測試，將它們推向極限，以確保它們滿足發射和可重複使用性的要求。在能夠稱之為合格之前，我們會進行完整的載重工況測試，例如軸向、橫向、扭轉、瞬態和組合載重。主結構和主要結構必須能夠承受阿基米德發動機產生的 150 萬磅推力的起飛作用。

The worst cases of aerodynamic loading on the way up as the vehicle goes through Max-Q and all the separation loads.

當車輛在上升過程中經歷最大動壓和所有分離負荷時，空氣動力負荷的最壞情況。

And then for the structures that come back on stage 1, they have to survive all the thermal and neurodynamic reentry loads too. Now we test secondary and auxiliary systems to the same level of scrutiny as well. This involves pulling and pushing across the same load cases even down to the smallest fixtures and the smallest bracket that holds every device to Neutron's primary structure. A tests across both Stage 1 and 2 structures have yielded wealth of valuable data and by anchoring and validating our engineering models through this test, we're able to uncover and retire technical risks on the ground well before we fly.

然後，對於第一階段返回的結構來說，它們還必須承受所有的熱力和神經動力學再入負荷。現在，我們對輔助系統和二級系統也進行了同樣嚴格的測試。這涉及在相同的負載情況下進行拉動和推動，甚至細化到將每個設備固定到 Neutron 主結構的最小夾具和最小支架。在第一階段和第二階段的結構測試中，我們獲得了大量有價值的數據，透過這項測試來鞏固和驗證我們的工程模型，我們能夠在飛行之前很久就發現並消除地面上的技術風險。

With new [Neutron's] reusable fixed faring design and our suspended second stage that passes through it, we're working with a unique architecture that's never been seen in our rocket before. And we've been taking through it as -- we've been taking it through its paces to read the entire system for its first flight. This has included testing the Hungry Hippos aerodynamic control surfaces as well as turning the electromechanical actuators and the control systems and all the entire mechanisms. The Hungry Hippo's open and closed systems have past performance testing and so as the staging systems such as [pneumatic] locks and pushes and guides and all the stuff that's inside of second stage that passes through the Hungry Hippo's mouth. While it's been one thing to build these huge assemblies for Flight 1, the team has also set up the infrastructure for this testing that allows us to get as close as to a flight test as we possibly can on the ground.

憑藉新型 [Neutron] 可重複使用的固定整流罩設計以及穿過整流罩的懸浮式第二級，我們正在採用獨特的架構，這是我們的火箭以前從未採用過的。我們一直在對它進行全面測試，以了解整個系統在首次飛行前的表現。這包括測試「飢餓河馬」的空氣動力學控制面，以及轉機電動執行器、控制系統和所有整個機械裝置。飢餓河馬的開放式和封閉式系統都經過了性能測試，分級系統，如[氣動]鎖、推桿、導軌以及所有穿過飢餓河馬嘴巴的第二級內部的部件也都經過了測試。為第一次飛行測試建造這些龐大的組件是一回事，但團隊也為這項測試建立了基礎設施，使我們能夠在地面上盡可能接近飛行測試。

And this is important because it also laser foundations, not just for the first launch, but flights to and beyond. You can see some of the giant towers in these staging tests on the right-hand side of the slide there. In fact, some people thought we were building a launch site was so big. In the Neutron flight software and GNC team, we've been flowing to orbits virtually almost now for 2 years, leveraging our proven approach from the Electron program with our own flight software and hardware in the loop testing that integrates physical components with simulated flight environments to validate our system-level functionability and performance. In preparation for Neutron's first flight, our operators and engineers have been running virtual test and launch operations week in, week out.

這很重要，因為它不僅為首次發射奠定了雷射基礎，也為未來的飛行奠定了基礎。您可以看到滑梯右側這些舞台測試中的一些巨型塔樓。事實上，由於規模龐大，有些人甚至認為我們正在建造一個發射場。在 Neutron 飛行軟體和 GNC 團隊中，我們已經利用 Electron 計劃中經過驗證的方法，結合我們自己的飛行軟體和硬體在環測試，將實體組件與模擬飛行環境相結合，從而驗證我們系統級的功能和性能，實現了近兩年的虛擬軌道飛行。為了準備 Neutron 的首次飛行，我們的操作員和工程師每週都在進行虛擬測試和發射操作。

We've been exercising our operations team on console going through static fire operations and launch day operations so that we can hit the ground running when the vehicle arrives at Launch Complex 3. Our world-class simulation tools built in-house allow us to exercise our Avionics GNC and software tools well in advance of conducting these operations with a fully integrated vehicle. This not only allows us to reduce risk, but also serves as a training platform for operations team.

我們一直在指揮中心對操作團隊進行演練，演練靜態點火操作和發射日操作，以便當飛行器到達 3 號發射台時，我們能夠立即投入工作。我們自主研發的世界級模擬工具使我們能夠在完全整合的車輛上執行這些操作之前，充分測試我們的航空電子導引、導航和控制 (GNC) 系統和軟體工具。這不僅可以降低風險，還可以作為營運團隊的培訓平台。

Combine that with a full suite of vehicle avionics in the loop, and we bring test like you fly to a whole new level. It's all part of the smart rigorous approach that we apply to every program and mission.

再加上全套車輛航空電子設備在迴路中運行，我們將「像飛行一樣測試」提升到了一個全新的水平。這是我們對所有項目和任務都採用的嚴謹、明智的方法的一部分。

On to Archimedes. Since the last engine update, the propulsion team has continued to validate its performance across the entire runbox. The upstaging on the test them to, and we continue to work for all the qualification testing on these engines and test as up configurations as you well as you know. The [ testing ] is operating at a 20/7 rate, meaning 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. The only way you can get through years of qualification always expected for an engine program is to squeeze years of hours into months.

接下來是阿基米德。自上次引擎升級以來，推進系統團隊一直在整個運行範圍內驗證其性能。測試階段的升級，我們將繼續對這些引擎進行所有資格測試，並測試各種配置，如您所知。測試工作以 20/7 的速度進行，即每天 20 小時，每週 7 天。要通過引擎專案通常需要的多年資格認證，唯一的辦法就是把多年的學習時間壓縮到幾個月內完成。

So as you can imagine, no weekends or evenings are left on the table at the Stennis test facility.

因此，你可以想像，斯坦尼斯號測試設施的周末和晚上都被佔用了。

Now on to our ocean recovery platform for Neutron. While return on investment barge won't be used for the first flight, the recovery team is making great progress on having it ready for Flight-2. The 3 main propulsion generating sets for the 400-foot length barge recently passed factory acceptance testing and have been cleared to be sent to the shipyard in Louisiana. Each of return on investment 3 diesel electric [gen sets], sets are capable of more than 3 megawatts of electrical power. Combined, that's more than 2.5x the total electricity capacity for all launch complex-3.

接下來是我們的海洋回收平台—Neutron。雖然投資回報駁船不會用於第一次飛行，但回收團隊正在努力使其為第二次飛行做好準備。這艘 400 英尺長駁船的 3 台主要推進發電機組最近通過了工廠驗收測試，並已獲準送往路易斯安那州的造船廠。每台投資報酬率為 3 台柴油電力 [發電機組]，每台機組都能提供超過 3 兆瓦的電力。加起來，這超過了 3 號發射場所有發射設施總發電量的 2.5 倍。

So these things are big.

所以這些事情意義重大。

All in all, return on investment is looking good into service next year for the second launch. Okay. Finally, to wrap up our progress. It was a great moment to be able to cut the ribbon at the launch site last quarter. Neutron will bring the largest lift capacity to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport has ever seen.

總而言之，投資報酬率看起來不錯，明年第二次投產就能投入使用。好的。最後，總結一下我們的進展。上個季度能夠在發射場剪綵真是個令人興奮的時刻。Neutron 將為大西洋中部地區航太港帶來前所未有的最大運載能力。

So opening it was an important milestone, not only for the past the first launch, but for the assured access to space that the nation needs a launch as launch congestion continues to build up across the country. The team is running through the final activation as they prepare to receive Neutron on the launch amount, but otherwise all ready to go. Most recent tests have included flow in cryogens through propellent systems and tests continue to run smoothly. We've designed the site to be able to turn missions within 24 hours. That was the design requirement.

因此，它的開放是一個重要的里程碑，不僅對首次發射而言如此，而且對確保國家獲得所需的太空發射機會也是如此，因為全國各地的發射擁堵情況仍在不斷加劇。團隊正在進行最後的激活，準備接收發射量中的中子，除此之外，一切就緒。最近的測試包括低溫液體在推進劑系統中的流動，測試仍在順利進行中。我們設計的這個網站能夠在 24 小時內完成任務。這是設計要求。

Now that's important for response space and the launch cadence we expect for the vehicle. But equally so, we can get Neutron straight into back back-to-back testing during the launch and readiness campaigns as well.

這對於車輛的反應空間和我們預期的發射節奏非常重要。但同樣地，我們也可以在發射和準備階段讓 Neutron 直接投入連續測試。

So you can see there's been lots of Neutron activity this quarter. The team has made significant progress towards Neutron's first launch while continuing to prioritize our very rigorous testing and qualification processes over rushing to the pad. We're seeing what happens when others rush to the pad with an unproven product, and we just refused to do that. A methodical and deep approach to qualification is what's driven our reputation for success and reliability in the industry. It's been a cornerstone of our success with Electron and it's the same philosophy that we'll be applying to Neutron.

所以你可以看到，本季中子活動非常活躍。該團隊在實現 Neutron 首次發射目標方面取得了重大進展，同時繼續優先考慮我們非常嚴格的測試和鑑定流程，而不是急於將火箭送上發射台。我們看到其他人急於將未經證實的產品推向市場會發生什麼，而我們拒絕這樣做。嚴謹細緻的資質認證方法，造就了我們在業界成功且可靠的聲譽。這是我們在 Electron 上成功的基石，我們將把同樣的理念應用在 Neutron 上。

Okay. Here's Adam with the financial highlights for the quarter and our outlook ahead for Q4.

好的。以下由亞當為大家帶來本季的財務亮點以及我們對第四季的展望。

Great. Thanks, Pete. Third quarter 2025 revenue was a record $155 million, coming in at the high end of our prior guidance range and representing an impressive year-over-year growth of 48%. This strong performance was driven by significant contributions from both our business segments. Sequentially, revenue increased by 7.3%, underscoring the continued momentum across the business.

偉大的。謝謝你，皮特。2025 年第三季營收達到創紀錄的 1.55 億美元，處於我們之前預期範圍的高端，年增 48%，令人矚目。這一強勁的業績得益於我們兩大業務部門的顯著貢獻。營收季增 7.3%，凸顯了公司業務的持續成長動能。

Our Space Systems segment delivered $114.2 million in revenue in the quarter, reflecting a sequential increase of 16.7%. This growth was primarily driven by increased contributions from our satellite manufacturing business, which continues to perform exceptionally well and provides comforting diversification alongside our robust, but at times lumpy launch business. Meanwhile, our loan services segment generated $40.9 million in revenue, representing a 12.3% quarter-over-quarter decline due to fewer launches during the period, driven primarily by customer spacecraft delivery delays. We have a busy Q4 manifest and as a result, expect a strong return to sequential revenue growth in our launch business in the fourth quarter.

本季度，我們的航太系統部門實現了 1.142 億美元的收入，季增 16.7%。這一成長主要得益於衛星製造業務貢獻的增加，該業務持續表現出色，並為我們穩健但有時波動較大的發射業務提供了令人欣慰的多元化。同時，我們的貸款服務部門創造了 4,090 萬美元的收入，環比下降 12.3%，原因是該期間發射次數減少，這主要是由於客戶太空船交付延遲所致。我們第四季的業務安排非常繁忙，因此預計第四季度我們的產品上市業務將強勁恢復環比收入成長。

Now turning to gross margin. GAAP gross margin for the third quarter was 37% at the high end of our prior guidance range of 35% to 37%. Non-GAAP gross margin for the third quarter was 41.9%, which was above our prior guidance range of 39% to 41%. The sequential improvement in gross margins was primarily driven by a onetime benefit from the transition to over time revenue recognition for certain HASTE missions paired with revenue recognition of an Electron mission cancellation due to a customer's internal program cancellation, which was recognized at 100% margin. We ended Q3 with production-related head count of 1,198, up 48% in the prior quarter.

現在來看毛利率。第三季 GAAP 毛利率為 37%，處於我們先前預期範圍 35% 至 37% 的高端。第三季非GAAP毛利率為41.9%，高於我們先前39%至41%的預期範圍。毛利率的連續改善主要得益於某些 HASTE 任務收入確認方式改為分期確認的一次性收益，以及由於客戶內部項目取消而導致的 Electron 任務收入確認（該收入確認比例為 100%）。第三季末，生產相關人員總數為 1,198 人，較上一季成長 48%。

Turning to backlog. We ended Q3 2025 with approximately $1.1 billion in total backlog, with launch backlog accounting for approximately 47% and Space Systems representing 53%. During the quarter, launch backlog contributed to gain share, supported by strong underlying trends as we can hear a robust pipeline of opportunities across electronic ends. This includes the 17 electronic bookings signed within the quarter that Pete mentioned earlier. While Space Systems bookings remain inherently lumpy due to the timing of increasingly larger and high-impact program opportunities, Space Systems backlog continues to hold at healthy levels despite the step-up in revenue run rate recognized over the last few quarters.

開始處理積壓工作。截至 2025 年第三季末，我們的積壓訂單總額約為 11 億美元，其中發射積壓訂單約佔 47%，航太系統積壓訂單約佔 53%。本季度，產品發布積壓助力市場份額增長，同時強勁的潛在趨勢也為其提供了支持，因為我們可以聽到來自電子終端的強勁機會儲備。這其中包括皮特之前提到的本季簽署的 17 份電子預訂單。儘管由於規模越來越大、影響越來越大的專案機會的時間安排，航太系統訂單仍然存在固有的波動，但儘管過去幾個季度收入運行率有所提高，航太系統積壓訂單仍然保持在健康的水平。

We're actively cultivating a strong pipeline that includes multi-launch agreements and large satellite manufacturing contracts across government and commercial programs. As noted earlier, these larger needle-moving opportunities can induce lumpiness in backlog growth and are critical drivers of long-term value and scale of business.

我們正在積極建立強大的項目儲備，其中包括政府和商業項目中的多項發射協議和大型衛星製造合約。如前所述，這些更大的、具有變革意義的機會可能會導致積壓訂單成長出現波動，並且是企業長期價值和規模的關鍵驅動因素。

Looking ahead, we expect approximately 57% of our current backlog to convert in revenue within the next 12 months. Additionally, we continue to benefit from relatively quick turns business across Launch and Space Systems components businesses that drive incremental top line contribution beyond the current 12-month backlog conversion.

展望未來，我們預計未來 12 個月內，我們目前積壓訂單中約有 57% 將轉化為收入。此外，發射和航太系統組件業務的周轉速度相對較快，這為我們帶來了超出當前 12 個月積壓訂單轉換率的增量收入貢獻，我們繼續從中受益。

Turning to operating expenses. GAAP operating expenses for the third quarter of 2025 were $116.3 million, above our guidance range of $104 million to $109 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses for the third quarter were $98.1 million, which was also above our guidance range of $86 million to $91 million. The sequential increases in both GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses were primarily driven by continued growth in prototype and headcount-related spending to support our Neutron development program. Specifically, investments ramped up in propulsion as we continue to qualify our committees as well as in test and integration of mechanical composite structures at our facility in the middle of America.

接下來談談營運費用。2025 年第三季的 GAAP 營運費用為 1.163 億美元，高於我們先前預測的 1.04 億美元至 1.09 億美元。第三季非GAAP營運費用為9,810萬美元，也高於我們先前預測的8,600萬美元至9,100萬美元的範圍。GAAP 和非 GAAP 營運費用的連續成長主要是由於原型和人員配備相關支出持續成長，以支援我們的 Neutron 開發計畫。具體而言，我們加大了對推進系統的投資，同時繼續對我們的委員會進行資格認證，並在美國中部工廠對機械複合材料結構進行測試和整合。

In R&D specifically, GAAP expenses increased $4.6 million quarter-over-quarter while non-GAAP expenses rose $4.8 million. These increases were driven by the ramp-up of Archimedes production along with higher expenditures related to mechanical systems [composites] Peter just mentioned. Q3 R&D headcount was 1,019, representing an increase of 84 from the prior quarter.

具體來說，研發方面，GAAP 費用較上季增加 460 萬美元，而非 GAAP 費用較上季增加 480 萬美元。這些增長是由阿基米德產量的增加以及彼得剛才提到的與機械系統（複合材料）相關的更高支出所推動的。第三季研發人員總數為 1,019 人，比上一季增加了 84 人。

In SG&A, GAAP expenses increased $5.7 million quarter-over-quarter while non-GAAP expenses rose $6.4 million quarter-over-quarter. These increases were primarily due to the acquisition of GEOs during the quarter compared with higher legal expenditures insurance renewals and fees associated with our annual proxy statement and related filings. Q3 ending SG&A headcount was 385, representing an increase of 42 from the prior quarter, with the majority of those coming from the closing of the GEOs acquisition. In summary, total headcount at the end of the third quarter was 2,602, up 174 heads from the prior quarter.

在銷售、一般及行政費用方面，GAAP 費用較上季增加 570 萬美元，而非 GAAP 費用較上季增加 640 萬美元。這些成長主要是由於本季度收購了 GEO，而法律支出、保險續保以及與我們的年度委託書和相關文件相關的費用則有所增加。第三季末的銷售、一般及行政費用員工人數為 385 人，比上一季增加了 42 人，其中大部分來自對 GEOs 的收購完成。總而言之，第三季末員工總數為 2,602 人，比上一季增加了 174 人。

Turning to cash. Purchases of property, equipment and capitalized software licenses were $45.9 million for the third quarter of 2025, an increase of $13.9 million from the $32 million in the second quarter. This increase reflects ongoing investments in new run development as we continue testing and integrating large structures at our facility in Middle River, expanding capabilities at the engine test and in Stennis, Mississippi and scaling additive manufacturing at our engine development center in Long Beach. As we progress towards Neutron's first flight, we expect capital expenditures to remain elevated as we invest in testing, production scaling and infrastructure expansion. GAAP EPS for the third quarter was a loss of $0.03 per share compared to a loss of $0.13 per share in the second quarter.

兌換現金。2025 年第三季度，購置房產、設備和資本化軟體授權的費用為 4,590 萬美元，比第二季度的 3,200 萬美元增加了 1,390 萬美元。這一增長反映了我們對新運行開發持續投入，我們繼續在位於米德爾河的工廠測試和集成大型結構，擴大發動機測試和位於密西西比州斯坦尼斯的能力，並在位於長灘的發動機開發中心擴大增材製造規模。隨著我們朝著 Neutron 的首次飛行邁進，我們預計資本支出將保持在高位，因為我們將投資於測試、生產規模化和基礎設施擴建。第三季GAAP每股虧損0.03美元，而第二季每股虧損0.13美元。

The sequential improvement to GAAP EPS is mostly attributable to the $41 million tax benefit we recorded during the third quarter, which is due to the partial release of the valuation allowance against our corporate deferred tax assets as a result of acquiring an equal amount of deferred tax liabilities, emanating from the GEOs acquisition's purchase price accounting.

GAAP EPS 的環比改善主要歸功於我們在第三季度確認的 4,100 萬美元稅收優惠，這是由於收購 GEOs 的購買價格會計處理而產生的等額遞延所得稅負債，導致我們公司遞延所得稅資產的估值準備金部分釋放。

GAAP operating cash flow was a use of $23.5 million in the third quarter of 2025 compared to $23.2 million in the second quarter. Similar to the capital expenditure dynamics mentioned earlier, cash consumption will remain elevated with a Neutron development, longer lease production for SDA, investments in subsequent Neutron tail production and infrastructure expansion to scale the business to be audited and testified. Overall, non-GAAP free cash flow, defined as GAAP operating cash flow, less purchases of property, equipment and capital software in the third quarter of 2025 was a use of $69.4 million compared to a use of $55.3 million in the second quarter. The ending balance of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash from marketable securities was just over $1 billion at the end of the third quarter.

2025 年第三季 GAAP 營運現金流為 2,350 萬美元，而第二季為 2,320 萬美元。與前面提到的資本支出動態類似，隨著 Neutron 的開發、SDA 更長的租賃生產、後續 Neutron 尾部生產的投資以及為擴大業務規模而進行的基礎設施擴張，現金消耗將保持高位，這些都將接受審計和證明。整體而言，2025 年第三季非 GAAP 自由現金流量（定義為 GAAP 營運現金流量減去購買物業、設備和資本軟體）的支出為 6,940 萬美元，而第二季的支出為 5,530 萬美元。第三季末，現金、現金等價物、受限制的有價證券現金餘額略高於 10 億美元。

The sequential increase in liquidity was driven by proceeds from the sale of our common stock under our aftermarket equity of program which generated $468.8 million during the quarter. These funds are intended to support acquisitions such as the announced Mynaric acquisition as well as other targets in our robust M&A pipeline, alongside general corporate expenditures and working capital. We exit Q3 in a strong position to execute on both organic and inorganic growth initiatives and to further vertically integrate our supply chain, expand strategic capabilities and grow addressable market, consistent to what we have done successfully in the past.

流動性的環比增長主要得益於我們透過二級市場股權計劃出售普通股所獲得的收益，該計劃在本季度產生了 4.688 億美元的收入。這些資金旨在支持收購，例如已宣布的對 Mynaric 的收購，以及我們強大的併購計劃中的其他目標，同時用於一般公司支出和營運資金。第三季末，我們處於有利地位，可以執行有機成長和非有機成長計劃，進一步垂直整合供應鏈，擴大策略能力，並擴大目標市場，這與我們過去成功實施的策略一致。

Adjusted EBITDA loss for the third quarter of 2025 was $26.3 million, which was below our guidance range of $21 million to $23 million loss. The sequential increase of $1.3 million and adjusted EBITDA loss was driven by higher revenue and improved gross margin, which was more than offset by increased operating expenses related to Neutron development.

2025 年第三季調整後 EBITDA 虧損為 2,630 萬美元，低於我們先前預測的 2,100 萬美元至 2,300 萬美元虧損範圍。環比增長 130 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 虧損，主要原因是收入增加和毛利率提高，但這些增長被與 Neutron 開發相關的營運費用增加所抵消。

With that, let's turn to our guidance for the fourth quarter of 2025. We expect revenue in the fourth quarter to range between $170 million and $180 million, representing 12.8 quarter-on-quarter growth at the midpoint. We anticipate further improvement in both GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins in the fourth quarter, with GAAP gross margins to range between 37% to 39% and non-GAAP gross margin to range between 43% to 45%. These forecasted GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are benefited by a higher mix of launch contribution in the quarter as well as underlying improvements in launch ASPs and greater launch overhead absorption due to higher forecasted launch cadence in the quarter.

接下來，讓我們來看看我們對 2025 年第四季的業績展望。我們預計第四季營收將在 1.7 億美元至 1.8 億美元之間，以中間值計算，季增 12.8%。我們預計第四季度 GAAP 和非 GAAP 毛利率將進一步提高，其中 GAAP 毛利率將在 37% 至 39% 之間，非 GAAP 毛利率將在 43% 至 45% 之間。預計本季GAAP和非GAAP毛利率將受益於本季產品上市貢獻比例的提高，以及產品上市平均售價的改善和由於本季預計上市頻率提高而帶來的上市管理費用吸收增加。

We expect fourth quarter GAAP operating expenses to range between $122 million and $128 million and non-GAAP operating expenses to range between $107 million and $103 million. The quarter-over-quarter increases were primarily driven by ongoing Neutron development spending related to Flight-1, including staff costs, prototyping and materials. However, we expect to see a shift in spending from R&D to flight to inventory, which is an encouraging sign of progress as we move closer to Neutron's first flight. I'm optimistic that with the impressive strides we've made towards this milestone, we're approaching peak Neutron R&D spending and are on the path towards meaningful operating leverage and positive cash flow in the future. We expect fourth quarter GAAP and non-GAAP net interest income to be $3.5 million, which is a function of higher cash balances as well as the conversion of approximately $192 million of convertible notes since September 30.

我們預計第四季度 GAAP 營運費用將在 1.22 億美元至 1.28 億美元之間，非 GAAP 營運費用將在 1.07 億美元至 1.03 億美元之間。季度環比成長主要由與 Flight-1 相關的 Neutron 持續開發支出推動，包括人員成本、原型製作和材料成本。不過，我們預計支出將從研發轉向飛行再轉向庫存，這是一個令人鼓舞的跡象，表明隨著我們越來越接近 Neutron 的首次飛行，進展將會更加順利。我對我們在實現這一里程碑方面取得的顯著進展感到樂觀，我們正接近 Neutron 研發支出的峰值，並走上未來實現有意義的營運槓桿和正現金流的道路。我們預計第四季度 GAAP 和非 GAAP 淨利息收入為 350 萬美元，這得益於現金餘額增加以及自 9 月 30 日以來約 1.92 億美元的可轉換票據轉換。

We expect fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA loss to range between $23 million to $29 million and basic weighted average common shares outstanding to be approximately 571 million shares, which includes convertible preferred shares of approximately 46 million and reflects the conversion of approximately 37 million shares from convertible notes thus far in Q4. Lastly, consistent with prior quarters, we expect negative non-GAAP free cash flow in the fourth quarter to remain at elevated levels, driven by ongoing investments in neutron development and scaling production. This excludes any potential offsetting effects from financing under our ATM facility.

我們預計第四季度調整後 EBITDA 虧損將在 2,300 萬美元至 2,900 萬美元之間，基本加權平均流通普通股約為 5.71 億股，其中包括約 4,600 萬股可轉換優先股，並反映了第四季度迄今為止約 3,700 萬股可轉換票據的轉換。最後，與前幾季一致，我們預期第四季非GAAP自由現金流為負值，這主要是由於對中子開發和擴大生產規模的持續投資所致。這不包括我們在 ATM 融資機制下可能產生的任何抵消效應。

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

接下來，我們將把電話轉交給接線員，解答大家的問題。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

現在開始問答環節。（操作說明）

Ryan Koontz, Needham & Co.

Ryan Koontz，Needham & Co.

Great, thank you. Really nice to see the strong bookings and backlog jump there for launch, really impressive. Sounds like a lot of that was international. Any particular color you can share on the use cases, defense versus government? Anything you can share as far as what's really driving that pickup in backlog and how you feel about it going forward over the next few quarters?

太好了，謝謝。很高興看到遊戲發售前的預訂量和積壓訂單量都大幅成長，非常令人印象深刻。聽起來很多都是國際性的。關於國防和政府等應用案例，您能否分享一下具體的色彩運用情況？關於推動積壓訂單量成長的真正原因，以及您對未來幾季的發展前景有何看法，您能否分享一些資訊？

Yes, Ryan, thanks very much. Yes, so it's a bit of both. So strong commercial bookings, but also for the first time, we see space agencies who typically use -- go to -- the first stop is to go and use their own sovereign capabilities. But Electron is really the only vehicle of its kind in -- operating in the world right now. So it was very, very promising to see space agencies now kind of standardizing on the electrons platform.

是的，瑞恩，非常感謝。是的，兩者兼具。因此，商業預訂量強勁，但我們也首次看到，航太機構通常會先使用自己的主權能力。但 Electron 是目前世界上唯一一款在營運的同類型車輛。因此，看到航太機構現在逐漸採用電子平台作為標準，這非常令人鼓舞。

Sure. That's great. And how are you feeling about supply chain relative to meeting that kind of demand for Electron at this point?

當然。那太棒了。那麼，您覺得目前供應鏈能否滿足Electron的這種需求呢？

Electron's like 90% plus built in-house. So we don't see too many challenges there. The factory that we built here was ultimately designed to build 52 rockets a year. And so I think we'll be fine.

Electron 90% 以上的程式碼都是自主開發的。所以我們認為這方面不會遇到太多挑戰。我們在這裡建造的工廠最終設計目標是每年生產 52 枚火箭。所以我覺得我們應該沒問題。

That's great. Maybe one last one, just to wrap up, just to clarify what Adam said about launch gross margins. There was a couple of onetime events there. Any color you can share with us on that, Adam.

那太棒了。最後再補充一點，作為總結，澄清一下亞當關於產品上市毛利率的說法。那裡發生過幾件一次性事件。亞當，你有什麼想法可以跟我們分享嗎？

Yes. As Electron continues to kind of mature as a business, we've got a deep pipeline and backlog. And you're going to have customers that have changing priorities when programs get canceled. Fortunately, we have very strong contract terms, which allow us to make sure that we're protected in the event that people programs get canceled or change their priorities. I think on the HASTE change, that was really kind of again a pivot on some of the HASTE missions where the contractual terms are such where it's really more [appropriate] under ASC 606 to recognize revenue over time and use EAC accounting to measure the cost that you're incurring and you recognize revenue and margin importantly.

是的。隨著 Electron 業務的不斷成熟，我們擁有大量的專案儲備和積壓訂單。當項目被取消時，客戶的優先事項也會發生變化。幸運的是，我們的合約條款非常強有力，這使我們能夠確保在人們的專案被取消或改變優先事項時，我們能夠得到保護。我認為關於 HASTE 變更，這實際上是對某些 HASTE 任務的另一個轉變，因為合約條款使得根據 ASC 606 更適合在一段時間內確認收入，並使用 EAC 會計來衡量你正在發生的成本，並且重要的是確認收入和利潤。

So we now have [mix] in that business where you have point in time and over time, and it's really just a function of contract terms.

所以現在這個行業裡既有某個時間點的情況，也有一段時間的情況，而這其實只是合約條款的一個函數。

And HASTE is evolving into an important and meaningful part of our business. A lot of good things come from at the fact that you've got typically higher ASPs. You've got, I would say, along with that now you've got a little bit more stability, I would say, our predictability to the revenue contribution from that, given the fact that and some are going to be a point in time, but some are going to be over time and that over time allows a little bit more of a, I would say, like a little bit more predictability. And I think it's a healthy [ place ] to be.

HASTE 正在發展成為我們業務中重要且有意義的一部分。通常情況下，較高的平均售價會帶來許多好處。我認為，同時，我們現在也擁有了更多的穩定性，可以說，我們對由此產生的收入貢獻有了更多的可預測性，因為有些收入會在某個時間點出現，而有些收入會隨著時間的推移而出現，隨著時間的推移，這種可預測性會更高一些。我認為這裡是個很健康的地方。

That's great. Appreciate the questions. Thank you.

那太棒了。感謝提問。謝謝。

Andres Sheppard, Cantor Fitzgerald.

安德烈斯·謝潑德，坎托·菲茨杰拉德。

Hey, everyone, good afternoon and thanks for taking our questions. Okay, everyone. And Pete, it's really -- it's great to hear all the great progress over the last few years to see everything up until this point. Two quick questions for us. One on Space Systems and one on Launch business. On the Space Systems, maybe for Adam, can you remind us the revenue recognition associated with the FDA Tranche-2 award.

大家好，下午好，感謝各位回答我們的問題。好了，各位。皮特，聽到過去幾年取得的巨大進步，看到迄今為止的一切，真是太好了。我們有兩個問題想問您。一個負責航太系統業務，一個負責發射業務。關於航太系統，亞當，你能否提醒我們一下與 FDA Tranche-2 獎相關的收入確認問題？

I think in the past, you had targeted 40% revenue recognition in 2026. Just wondering if that's on track or unchanged? And then also on the FDA Tranche-3 award now, obviously, the government shutdown has maybe delayed the decision there slightly. But do we still feel confident in that award. And in that decision, if awarded, that would be the largest contract, I think, awarded in company history.

我認為過去你們的目標是到 2026 年達到 40% 的收入確認。想問一下這個進度是否照計畫進行，還是沒有改變？此外，關於 FDA 第三批撥款，很顯然，政府停擺可能稍微推遲了這個決定。但我們對這個獎項仍有信心嗎？如果這項決定最終獲得批准，我認為這將是公司歷史上授予的最大合約。

So curious on your thoughts there. Thank you.

很好奇你對此有何看法。謝謝。

Yes. I'll take the first piece on the rev rec. I'll give you my thoughts on Q3, and then I'll hand it back over to Pete. But on the rev rec, yes, we're still very much in that path to recognize the revenue over that pattern where it was -- kind of think about these these larger long-lived government programs is kind of 10% kind of in the first year after you achieve award and then it's 40, 40, 10. So think about that as the shape of the curve.

是的。我選第一首推薦曲目。我會先說說我對第三季的看法，然後再把麥克風交還給皮特。但就收入確認而言，是的，我們仍然非常傾向於按照先前的模式確認收入——想想這些大型的、長期的政府項目，在獲得撥款後的第一年大約是 10%，然後是 40、40、10。所以，你可以把它想像成曲線的形狀。

And FDA has got a Tranche-2 transport layer shaping up to be similar to that. So yes, everything is consistent there.

FDA 正在研發的第二批轉運層也類似。是的，那裡的一切都一致。

And as you know, similar to the other overtime rev rec, you basically estimate your cost to complete the mission as you incur costs proportionately, you recognize revenue at program margin. And so yes, it's been -- so far, that program has been in very well. As Pete mentioned, that's part of the business is performing very, very well. on T3, yes, that would be the largest contract company would have won to date. And you're right, the timing has been a little bit delayed due to the government shutdown.

如您所知，與其他加班收入確認類似，您基本上是按比例估算完成任務的成本，並在產生成本時按專案利潤確認收入。所以，是的，到目前為止，這個專案進展得非常順利。正如皮特所提到的，這部分業務表現非常出色。至於T3項目，是的，那將是該公司迄今為止贏得的最大合約。你說得對，由於政府停擺，時間確實稍微延後了一些。

I think you've all seen recently that there are signs that perhaps we could be coming to an end of that shutdown, which I think would be great to get that momentum back in the awarding of those types of contracts, but I'll show repeat investor confidence in that win.

我想你們最近都看到了一些跡象，表明我們或許即將結束這場停擺，我認為這對於恢復此類合約的授予勢頭來說是一件好事，但我會再次展現投資者對此次勝利的信心。

Yes. I think you've said it well, Adam. I mean, I think we put ourselves in a really strong position as a prime contractor on those awards, especially with some of our acquisitions. So we're feeling good, and we just need the government to come back and finish off that last little piece. But no, I think we're feeling good, Andre.

是的。亞當，我覺得你說得很好。我的意思是，我認為我們作為主承包商在這些項目中佔據了非常有利的地位，尤其是在我們的一些收購項目中。所以我們感覺很好，現在只需要政府回來完成最後一點工作。不，我覺得我們感覺很好，安德烈。

Wonderful. That's great to hear. And maybe just as a quick follow-up on Neutron. With the first launch now targeted for early next year, should we still be assuming kind of 3 launches for next year, 5 the following year and 7? Or is there perhaps a change to that cadence as well? Thank you.

精彩的。聽到這個消息真是太好了。或許可以作為《中子》的快速後續報道。鑑於首次發射定於明年初，我們是否仍應該假設明年發射 3 次，後年 5 次，明年 7 次？或者，節奏是否也改變了？謝謝。

Yes. The way we think about that cadence is it's -- the clock starts for the next one from the first one. So depending on the first flight, you think of it as like a 12-month kind of rate from there. But maybe, Adam, if you any different views?

是的。我們對這種節奏的理解是──下一個節奏的計時是從第一個節奏開始的。所以，根據第一次飛行，你可以把它看作是從那時開始的 12 個月的利率。不過，亞當，你有什麼不同的看法嗎？

Yes. No, I think that's right. I think I'd just remind folks that the first launch is a test launch. It's an R&D launch. We've been expensing that vehicle over its manufacturing period.

是的。不，我覺得是對的。我想提醒大家，第一次發射是測試發射。這是一項研發成果發布。我們一直按照車輛的生產週期將該車輛的費用計入支出。

So the previously communicated cadence was 1 test launch which is still the case, and then we expect to be in revenue for the flights thereafter. So I would say that depending how early we get the test launch off in 2026, we'll dictate whether or not we get -- as Pete said, we kind of complete the next 3 missions in a 12-month window that would fall within that.

因此，先前公佈的節奏是先進行一次試飛，這一點仍然不變，之後我們預期航班將開始獲利。所以我認為，能否在 2026 年進行試射，將取決於我們能否儘早進行試射——正如皮特所說，我們將在 12 個月的時間窗口內完成接下來的 3 次任務。

Wonderful. Very helpful. And congrats again. I'll pass it on.

精彩的。很有幫助。再次恭喜。我會轉達的。

Edison Yu, Deutsche Bank.

餘生愛迪生，德意志銀行。

Hey, good afternoon. Want to ask about the future constellation. I wanted to ask about the future constellation. I know it's quite a long-term question, but there's been a lot of activity in some operators around spectrum. And I'm curious, what's your thinking about the value of spectrum in your kind of calculus for any type of future constellation?

嘿，下午好。想問一下未來的星座運勢。我想問未來的星座情況。我知道這是一個相當長期的問題，但一些運營商在頻譜方面已經有很多活動了。我很好奇，您認為頻譜在您用於計算未來各種星座的理論中具有怎樣的價值？

Well, I mean, that would be making an assumption that -- I guess you were sitting on a comms application as well. But clearly, spectrum is an important element to any kind of scaled comms business, although we have been seeing some interesting approaches where that becomes less so. But I think you're just seeing some kind of natural consolidation in the industry right now around some of those spectrum assets and I suspect that will continue. But look, Rocket Lab is not going to go out and buy billions of dollars worth of spectrum speculatively. That's for sure.

嗯，我的意思是，那將是一個假設——我猜你當時也在開發一款通訊應用程式。但顯然，頻譜對於任何類型的規模化通訊業務來說都是一個重要因素，儘管我們已經看到一些有趣的做法，在這些做法中，頻譜的重要性降低。但我認為，目前業界圍繞著某些頻譜資產正在出現某種自然整合，我懷疑這種情況還會持續下去。但是，火箭實驗室不會貿然去投機性地購買價值數十億美元的頻譜。那當然。

This is Adam. Sorry, I got dropped some, unfortunately, the conference call dropping. So I don't know, did I answer your question fully, Andre, on the launch cadence?

這是亞當。抱歉，我被掛斷了，很不幸，電話會議中斷了。所以，安德烈，我不知道我是否完全回答了你關於發射節奏的問題？

It's actually Edison on now. Yes, we did. It's nice to see that you got dropped down in this time and not me. It's not for sure, yes.

現在播放的是愛迪生的節目。是的，我們做到了。很高興這次落榜的是你而不是我。是的，還不能確定。

Okay. Thank you.

好的，謝謝。

It's nice to see that you got dropped at him this time and not me. It's not discriminating.

很高興這次被他甩了而不是甩了我。這並非歧視。

For sure, yes. So totally separate topic. I wanted to ask about. I'm sure everyone has seen NASA, we got Isaacman seemingly back. Do you see increased opportunities in this type of changeover around, whether it's moon, Mars space? And where do you think those incremental opportunities could potentially come from?

當然，是的。所以這是一個完全不同的另一個話題。我想問一下。我相信大家都看到了，NASA，我們好像又見到艾薩克曼了。您認為在月球、火星等太空領域的這種轉變中，是否會出現更多機會？你認為這些新增機會可能來自哪裡？

Short answer is yes. I think if you -- if Jared is cemented as the NASA administrator, I think -- if you look at Jared's approach to how he believes NASA should be run and the role that commercial entities like Rocket Lab will play, I think that bodes very well for the way that we -- the way that we operate and the value that we can bring the agency. So I would view that as a very positive thing for Rocket Lab.

簡而言之，答案是肯定的。我認為，如果賈里德鞏固了其作為美國國家航空航天局局長的地位，我認為，如果你看看賈里德對於美國國家航空航天局應該如何運作以及像火箭實驗室這樣的商業實體將扮演的角色的看法，我認為這對我們——我們的運作方式以及我們能夠為該機構帶來的價值來說，都是一個非常好的預兆。所以我認為這對火箭實驗室來說是一件非常正面的事情。

Great, thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

Gautam Khanna, TD Cowen.

Gautam Khanna，TD Cowen。

Yes, thanks. Good afternoon, guys. Was wondering if you could elaborate on how soon after Neutron arrives at the complex realistically it can launch? Does it -- is there a minimum interval of time? And then what sort of explains that whatever that range might be?

好的，謝謝。下午好，各位。我想問一下，Neutron 到達發射場後，實際上多久才能發射？是否存在最短時間間隔？那麼，究竟是什麼解釋了這個範圍究竟有多大呢？

It's a little bit difficult to answer because it really depends on what you find. If we put the vehicle on the pad and we go through all of that fueling and de-tanking, and all the operational tests and static hot fires and all of that sort of stuff, and it all flies through, then it's a fairly straightforward path. But if you -- if we go there and we find some stuff that we don't like, then we're going to fix it. And I think as I tried to explain during the call, there's the way that we develop these kinds of things is I'm suspicious if everything just flies through because that, in some cases, causes more time to be spent than less because generally, you expect to see something because the whole vehicle is built on a safety factor of 1.1 or 1.2. So you expect to see some things and depending on the magnitude of those things, we won't just blindly walk past them.

這個問題有點難回答，因為它真的取決於你的發現。如果我們把車輛放在發射台上，完成所有的加油和卸油工作，以及所有的運行測試、靜態熱試車等等，並且一切都順利完成，那麼這就是一條相當直接的道路。但是，如果我們去了那裡，發現一些我們不喜歡的東西，那麼我們會改正它。正如我在通話中試圖解釋的那樣，我們開發這類產品的方式是，如果所有事情都草草了事，我會很懷疑，因為在某些情況下，這反而會浪費更多時間。一般來說，你會期望看到一些東西，因為整輛車的設計安全係數是 1.1 或 1.2。所以你會期望看到一些問題，而且根據這些問題的嚴重程度，我們不會盲目地視而不見。

We'll go out and not only fix them, but really, really deeply understand how they occurred and then also go 1 step further and feed that back into all of our engineering models to make sure that next time around, we're doing a similar thing that the -- I guess, the the ability to predict and the fineness of that become better and better and better.

我們不僅會出去修復它們，還會真正深入地了解它們是如何發生的，然後更進一步，將這些知識反饋到我們所有的工程模型中，以確保下次我們做類似的事情，從而——我想，預測能力和預測的精細程度會越來越好。

So look, we know a lot more than we have a vehicle on the pad. We know even more new hot fire after hot fire if that's a successful campaign. We're happy with what we see then the turnaround to launch after that point is pretty quick.

所以你看，我們知道的比我們實際擁有的車輛多得多。如果這是一場成功的行動，我們知道將會有更多新的猛烈抨擊接踵而至。我們對目前的情況很滿意，之後的啟動和發布週期也相當短。

Okay. And I was curious also, maybe I missed it, but the cumulative catch-up adjustment or the onetime, how large was it in the quarter?

好的。我也很好奇，或許我錯過了，但本季累積追趕調整或一次調整的幅度有多大？

Sorry, Gautam. What you're talking about the -- are you referring to the HASTE. I'm not sure if you can maybe -- sorry, I got dropped again from the call from a provider, but (inaudible) --

對不起，高塔姆。你說的「HASTE」是指什麼？我不確定你是否可以——抱歉，我的電話又被運營商掛斷了，但是（聽不清楚）——

Yes. I think you mentioned in the remarks that there was a -- well, I know in the Q, it says there's a revenue adjustment of net $10 million favorable in the quarter. Wanted to know, I think you described the EBITDA margins were lifted by a contract closeout of some sort. I was just curious if you could quantify how large that was?

是的。我想你在評論中提到過——嗯，我知道季度報告中說，本季淨收入調整為有利的 1000 萬美元。我想知道，您之前提到過，EBITDA利潤率的提升是由於某種合約的結束。我只是好奇您能否量化一下它到底有多大？

Yes. So there was one contract close that was about -- I think it was a little under $5 million was the value that we received when that cancellation occurred. And then there were some other things moving around with regards to the -- well, there was a benefit to the gross margins as well because in Q3, we recognized revenue with higher gross margin associated because when we made the change in Q2, we end up actually taking a margin hit because we've recognized revenue without having associated basically at 0 margin because at that time, we didn't have the ability to estimate what the costs were going to be to complete the mission as we did this transition the path was essentially revenue in Q2 at no margin. Q3, we got, again, normal amount of revenue from that overtime contract, but that was at -- now at margin, right?

是的。所以，有一份合約即將到期，我想，取消合約後我們收到的金額略低於 500 萬美元。此外，還有一些其他方面的變化——嗯，毛利率也有所提高，因為在第三季度，我們確認的收入與更高的毛利率相關聯。因為當我們在第二季進行調整時，實際上我們的毛利率受到了影響，因為我們確認的收入沒有相應的毛利率，基本上是零。因為當時我們無法估算完成這項任務的成本，所以第二季的收入基本上是零毛利率。第三季度，我們再次從加班合約中獲得了正常數量的收入，但利潤率——現在來說，是的，對吧？

So I think those are really kind of the 2 prior things. But when you look forward into Q4, given our -- the guidance that we've provided, even with those things not recurring in Q4, you still see our gross margins improving. So you can just see that yes, that was kind of the unique dynamics in the transition from Q2 to Q3. But for Q3 and Q4, without those unique events, we still show gross margin strength and growth sequentially.

所以我覺得這其實就是前面提到的兩件事。但展望第四季度，鑑於我們給出的指引，即使這些因素在第四季度不再發生，您仍然會看到我們的毛利率增加。所以你可以看出，是的，這就是從第二季到第三季過渡期間的獨特動態。但就第三季和第四季而言，即使不考慮這些特殊事件，我們仍然展現出毛利率的強勁成長動能。

Thanks very much, guys. Appreciate it.

非常感謝各位。謝謝。

Erik Rasmussen, Stifel.

Erik Rasmussen，Stifel。

Yeah, thanks for taking the questions. Yes. I wanted to -- just on Neutron. I totally understand, Peter and the team, how you guys operate. You're not looking at an iterative process and having things blow up. So that's great, and that you've always operated that way.

謝謝你回答這些問題。是的。我本來想——就用Neutron。我完全理解彼得和團隊的運作方式。你看到的不是一個迭代過程，而是事情最終崩潰的局面。那太好了，而且你一直以來都是這樣行事的。

But I wanted to see, though, with this latest push out, what does that do from a timing perspective for things like the NSSL and some of the things that you might have been looking at, at Neutron obviously is geared towards.

不過，我想看看，隨著這次最新舉措的推出，從時間安排的角度來看，這對 NSSL 以及您可能一直在關注的一些事情（Neutron 顯然是面向這些事情的）會產生什麼影響。

Yes. Erik, great question. So look, the NSSL team worked shoulder to shoulder with us. They're on every review in the program. And obviously, I can't speak for them, but I think they take at least the feedback we've had from is they very much appreciate our approach of both transparency but also the diligence the way we build vehicles.

是的。埃里克，問得好。你看，NSSL 團隊和我們並肩作戰。它們出現在節目的每一次評審中。顯然，我不能代表他們發言，但我認為他們至少會採納我們收到的回饋，那就是他們非常欣賞我們既透明又嚴謹的造車方式。

So the awards for the NSSL contracts have not been made yet and there's some time away for them to be made. We need to have a flight under our belt -- a successful flight under our belt before they'll make those awards anyway.

因此，NSSL合約的授予尚未完成，還需要一段時間才能完成。我們需要先完成一次飛行──一次成功的飛行，他們才會頒發那些獎項。

So largely speaking, it's pretty irrelevant. And we've been very careful, and I think there's been a lot of conversation previously about booking Neutron and making sure that we can deliver for our customers. So long story short, we're not letting anybody down here, Erik, we're in a good spot.

所以總的來說，這無關緊要。我們一直非常謹慎，而且我認為之前已經就預訂 Neutron 以及確保我們能夠為客戶提供服務進行了很多討論。簡而言之，艾瑞克，我們沒有讓任何人失望，我們處境很好。

Great. And maybe just my Follow-up question here. You closed the GEOs acquisition. Mynaric is soon to close, I would presume, but with GEOs, are you seeing traction in expanding the footprint in national security and defense, I mean, that was part of the reason, but what are you seeing now that you've closed the deal?

偉大的。我可能還有一個後續問題。你們完成了GEOs的收購。我估計 Mynaric 的交易很快就要完成了，但是對於 GEO 而言，您是否看到在國家安全和國防領域擴大業務版圖方面取得了進展？我的意思是，這曾經是部分原因，但是現在交易已經完成，您看到了什麼？

Yes. It's -- look, it's just -- it's night and day to before. So obviously, we had a good relationship with SDA and through the intelligence community, obviously, for launch and things like that. But I would just say we're in a totally different league now and working with totally different folks. And there's a long, long relationships that have been built with the GEOs team and now that they have the support of Rocket Lab, we're really able to expand and surcharge those.

是的。真是——你看，簡直——跟以前相比，簡直是天壤之別。顯然，我們與 SDA 以及情報界保持著良好的關係，這對於發射等事宜來說至關重要。但我只想說，我們現在的情況完全不同了，合作的人也完全不一樣了。我們與 GEO 團隊建立了長期的合作關係，現在有了 Rocket Lab 的支持，我們真的能夠擴展並提升這些合作關係。

And also, those relationships expose them to the larger offering of Rocket Lab, because it always surprises me. Sometimes people just think we're just this little launch company and don't have all this other capabilities. So no, it's been incredibly important -- and also just now being a payload provider is -- it brings you up to a whole another level because you're having really detailed mission discussions rather than just talking about how you can provide a bus or a component or something. We're really in mission formulation territory.

此外，這些關係也讓他們有機會接觸到 Rocket Lab 的更廣泛產品和服務，因為 Rocket Lab 的產品總是能帶給我驚喜。有時人們會認為我們只是一家小型的新創公司，不具備其他所有能力。所以，不，這非常重要——而且現在成為有效載荷提供者也很重要——它能讓你提升到一個全新的水平，因為你要進行非常詳細的任務討論，而不僅僅是討論如何提供總線或組件之類的東西。我們現在真的進入了任務制定階段。

Great. Thanks and good luck with the Neutron development.

偉大的。謝謝，祝您Neutron專案開發順利。

Michael Leshock, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Michael Leshock，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

Hey, good afternoon, everyone. I wanted to ask on Archimedes. I know you're constantly testing and iterating the engine, but how close are you to having a finalized design that meets all the performance requirements in ready for first flight?

大家好，下午好。我想問一些關於阿基米德的問題。我知道你們一直在測試和迭代引擎，但是你們距離最終設計完成，滿足所有性能要求，可以進行首飛還有多遠？

And then secondly, given your production cadence, I think you previously said a new engine was coming off the line every 11 days or so. How quickly can you ramp production of the engine to have 9 Archimedes for the first stage of Neutrons debut launch?

其次，考慮到你們的生產節奏，我想你之前說過，大約每 11 天就會有一台新引擎下線。為了滿足中子號火箭首飛第一級的需求，你們能以多快的速度提高引擎的產量，達到9台阿基米德引擎的產量？

Yes. So thanks, Michael. The engine design is pretty stable at this point. And we've met all performance criterias. What we're doing is, obviously, with ascent, there's 1 set of environments and with descent, an entirely new set of environment and much more challenging environments because you're propellent woman and lower pressures and you've had alleging and all kinds of stuff.

是的。謝謝你，麥可。目前引擎設計已經相當穩定。我們已達到所有績效標準。很明顯，上升過程中只有一套環境，而下降過程中則完全是一套全新的環境，而且環境更具挑戰性，因為你是一個有動力的女性，壓力更低，而且你還要面對各種指責和各種各樣的事情。

So going through all of those things has been really important. And I think the team -- I got to check on the exact number, but I mean the vast, vast majority of all of the components for Flight 1 engines are either complete or in some kind of kind of form of build.

所以經歷所有這些事情真的非常重要。我認為團隊——我得查一下確切的數字，但我的意思是，Flight 1 引擎的絕大多數組件要么已經完成，要么已經以某種形式組裝完畢。

So we're iterating on the engine for sure, but the production machine has stood up and ready to support. But with our committees, we want to make sure we're -- as we are sending on first flight, but nobody is worried about an engine. And obviously, it's the most complicated part of the vehicle.

所以，我們肯定在對引擎進行迭代，但生產機器已經準備就緒，可以提供支援。但是，透過我們的委員會，我們希望確保——就像我們即將進行首次飛行一樣，但沒有人擔心引擎的問題。顯然，它是車輛中最複雜的部分。

So there's just no substitute for putting hours and hours and hours on test articles and hence, the reasons why we have 2 cells running now at (inaudible), not just the one, as we think we talked about their last earnings, and it's just switching between engine and engine.

所以，沒有辦法替代花費大量時間在測試文章上，因此，我們現在有兩個單元格在運行（聽不清），而不是只有一個，正如我們之前討論過的他們的上一次收益，它只是在不同的引擎之間切換。

And some of the more interesting tests, just extra long durations to try and promote some fatigue in the engine because obviously, we want to reuse this engine over and over again. So just doing really extended burns to try and promote fatigue and items as some of those kind of things. They just take time, like there's just no substitute for just burning?

還有一些更有趣的測試，就是延長測試時間，以嘗試使引擎產生一些疲勞，因為很明顯，我們希望反覆使用這台引擎。所以就是進行長時間的燃燒訓練，以嘗試增加疲勞感等等。它們只是需要時間，難道除了燃燒之外別無他法嗎？

Okay. Great. And then sticking with Neutron, is that original budget for Neutron $250 million to $300 million that still intact given the updating timing of new transfers launch? And you'd said you're near peak Neutron spending. Just any way to frame how much you've spent so far or what's left to go?

好的。偉大的。那麼，就《中子》而言，考慮到新版本發佈時間的更新，最初 2.5 億至 3 億美元的預算是否仍保持不變？你曾說過你的中子消耗量已接近高峰。有什麼辦法可以描述一下你目前為止花了多少錢，或是還剩下多少錢要花？

Yes, I can take a swag at that. So yes, I mean, the program, as Pete mentioned, I mean, we've continued to make a lot of progress. The $250 million to $300 million kind of original estimate we kind of got a little bit, I would say, behind us with the kind of the push from launching middle of '25 at the end of '25. And so now as we get into kind of a 2026 scenario. Right now, I'd say that we're estimating that we will have spent approximately exiting in cumulative across R&D and CapEx through the end of 2025.

是的，我可以接受這個結果。是的，我的意思是，正如皮特所提到的，這個項目，我們一直在取得很大進展。最初的估計是 2.5 億至 3 億美元，可以說，隨著 2025 年年中到年末的推進，這個數字已經有所下降。所以現在我們進入了 2026 年的設想階段。目前，我們估計到 2025 年底，我們在研發和資本支出方面的累積支出將達到退出水準。

So we're above that. And as Pete mentioned, it's about a $15 million impact on the human capital side of things per quarter, just by extending, obviously, prototyping, you're going spend, we're going to spend. It's really not impacted by the time frame. But when the program kind of delays, you end up obviously incurring extension of that -- the staffing-related expenses for the program. So right now, again, we're looking at around $360 million exiting 2025.

所以我們高於那個水平。正如皮特提到的那樣，僅通過擴展原型設計，每個季度就能在人力資本方面產生大約 1500 萬美元的影響，顯然，你會花錢，我們也會花錢。這其實不受時間範圍的影響。但是，當專案延期時，顯然會產生延期費用——與專案人員配備相關的費用。所以現在，我們預計到 2025 年底，這個數字將達到約 3.6 億美元。

So again, as I mentioned, I do think we're approaching peak if hopefully, Q4 is the peak and it all depends on kind of when the timing the first launch occurs -- and of course, the launch as well.

所以，正如我之前提到的，我認為我們正在接近峰值，如果第四季度真的是峰值的話，而這一切都取決於首次發布的時間——當然，也取決於發布本身。

Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it.

是的。謝謝。謝謝。

Suji Desilva, Roth Capital.

Suji Desilva，Roth Capital。

Hi Pete. Hi, Adam. Congrats on the strong backlog build here. On the electron launches, you gave some sense of pricing, but any (inaudible) the trend and the size of the number of launches, maybe if not now into '26, if you're trying to extend those? Or is that fairly stable?

嗨，皮特。嗨，亞當。恭喜你們累積瞭如此多的待辦事項。關於 Electron 的發布，您給出了一些定價方面的信息，但是（聽不清楚）發布數量的趨勢和規模如何？如果現在還沒有，也許到 2026 年，您是否正在嘗試擴展這些產品？或者說，這種情況相當穩定？

I don't know, Adam, if you've got that one, but I struggle to hear you on that one.

亞當，我不知道你聽不懂了，但我聽不太清楚你在說什麼。

Yes. Suji, you broke up.

是的。Suji，你們分手了。

Sorry, I'll repeat it. Just any observations on the Electron launches, the deals in terms of number of launches, length of the launches? Are people trying to extend the visibility there in the next few quarters? Or is it pretty stable?

抱歉，我再說一次。關於Electron火箭的發射，您有什麼看法？例如發射次數、發射持續時間等？未來幾個季度，人們是否試圖擴大該領域的影響力？或者說它相當穩定？

I think when we talk to customers, as you can see in the last quarter, it's generally not for just sort of 1 launch we see folks locking in their launch capacity and buying lots of launches in 1 hit. We're -- we never try and let a customer down or leave a customer on the pad. So we met production with launch demand very well, but -- and that hasn't been a problem to date. But no, we just continue to see just growth in the demand for the product.

我認為，正如你在上個季度看到的那樣，當我們與客戶交談時，通常不僅僅是針對一次發布，我們看到人們鎖定他們的發布能力，並一次性購買大量的發布機會。我們——我們絕對不會辜負顧客，也不會讓顧客失望。因此，我們很好地滿足了生產和上市需求，而且——到目前為止，這還沒有成為問題。不，我們看到的只是對該產品需求的持續成長。

Yes. I would add to that, Suji. So we've seen these larger bulk buys over long periods of time occur more on the commercial side. as we've talked about in the past, it's kind of hard to differentiate sometimes commercial versus government because a lot of our commercial customers actually end up fulfilling government demand. So it's a quasi commercial government.

是的。我還要補充一點，蘇吉。所以我們看到，這種長期的大宗採購比較發生在商業領域。正如我們之前討論過的，有時很難區分商業採購和政府採購，因為我們許多商業客戶最終實際上都在滿足政府的需求。所以它是一種準商業化政府。

But also, we've been growing our has business pretty significantly over the last couple of years. And those have come, I would say, more like Electron originally did were kind of the onesie-twosie kind of concise contracts. And I think that's hopefully the next kind of shoe to drop for us is the ability to start -- start signing larger case deals that cover a long period of time and a greater number of launches because that would give even more certainty to the revenue ramp in that part of the business. So again, that's something that we're looking forward to. So I think that would be a very helpful indicator to the longevity of that HASTE business and the ultimate scaling of it.

但同時，在過去的幾年裡，我們的業務也取得了相當大的成長。我認為，這些合約更像是 Electron 最初推出的那種簡潔明了的合約。我希望接下來能發生的事情是，我們能夠開始簽署更大的合同，涵蓋更長的時間和更多的產品發布，因為這將為該業務部分的收入增長帶來更大的確定性。所以，這是我們非常期待的事情。所以我認為這將是一個非常有用的指標，可以衡量 HASTE 業務的持久性和最終的規模發展。

Okay. Helpful, Adam. And my other question is on the M&A environment and with targets. Is there a sense maybe among the targets that consolidation and being part of the larger companies increasingly important, maybe more willingness to come to the table? Are you seeing any of that trend now among the M&A discussions?

好的。謝謝你，亞當。我的另一個問題是關於併購環境和收購目標。目標公司是否普遍認為，整合以及成為大公司的一部分變得越來越重要，因此它們可能更願意參與談判？您現在在併購討論中是否也看到了這種趨勢？

Yes. I think you're seeing it in a few different places, both on the larger scale, but also I think we're seeing it also on some of the smaller-scale stuff as well as -- I think it's a difficult environment to scale in, and there hasn't really been too many great companies that other companies want to join. And as I think I mentioned on the call, we're sort of becoming the de facto go-to guys if you want to really scale your products and the opportunities that you have in front of you.

是的。我認為你在很多不同的地方都能看到這種情況，無論是在大範圍內，還是在一些小規模的事情上——我認為這是一個很難擴大規模的環境，而且還沒有太多其他公司想要加入的優秀公司。正如我在電話會議上提到的，如果您想真正擴大產品規模並抓住眼前的機會，我們正在逐漸成為您的首選合作夥伴。

Okay, thanks Pete.

好的，謝謝你，皮特。

Thanks. No worries.

謝謝。不用擔心。

Thanks, Sujit.

謝謝你，蘇吉特。

Andre Madrid, BTIG.

安德烈·馬德里，BTIG。

Hey everyone, good afternoon. Thanks for the questions. I think earlier today, it was announced that the FDA was moving some funding earmarked for some of their programs over to true payments. This was a more of a DOW level. But seeing that and then you called it out, decreased cash receipts in the slide deck 2 related to SDA (inaudible) work. I mean if things don't get resolved this evening, which hopefully they do. I mean, when does the shutdown pose a significant risk to your internal '26 outlook and beyond.

大家好，下午好。謝謝大家的提問。我認為今天早些時候，FDA宣布將把一些原本用於其某些項目的資金轉移到真正的支付方式。這更像是道瓊斯指數的水平。但看到這一點，然後你指出，投影片 2 中與 SDA（聽不清楚）工作相關的現金收入減少了。我的意思是，如果今晚事情沒有解決，希望能夠解決。我的意思是，停擺何時會對你們內部的 2026 年及以後的展望構成重大風險？

I can -- yes, go ahead, Pete.

我可以——好的，皮特，請便。

You go ahead, Adam.

你先請，亞當。

No, I was going to say, I think that there's so far, the government shutdown, I wouldn't say, has really dramatically affected us. Yes, there have been slightly slower cash receipts. But for example, we got a very large cash payment on Friday from SDA. So I would say that this ticket has not been shut off. I think it's just kind of -- it's just been a little bit slower and flowing.

不，我本來想說，我認為到目前為止，政府停擺並沒有對我們造成真正的巨大影響。是的，現金收入成長率略為放緩。例如，我們週五收到了 SDA 支付的一大筆現金。所以我認為這個工單還沒有被關閉。我覺得就是──節奏慢了一些，也更流暢了。

So that's very helpful. That even before the line of sight to the ending of the government shutdown, we were still getting -- and we received again a very large payment at the end of last week. So right now, it -- I don't think there's going to be any -- obviously, we factored in everything we believe is to be the most likely case in our Q4 guide that we described earlier. So it's hard, no one's got a crystal ball for kind of what happens with this -- when they bring the government back and kind of where they reprioritize their dollars. But I think we've been very fortunate so far that we've really not felt any significant impact from the shutdown today.

那很有幫助。甚至在政府停擺即將結束的曙光出現之前，我們仍然在收到款項——而且在上週末我們又收到了一大筆款項。所以現在，我認為不會有任何——顯然，我們在之前描述的第四季度業績指引中，已經考慮到了我們認為最有可能出現的所有情況。所以這很難說，沒有人能預測未來會發生什麼事——當他們重新組成政府，以及他們會如何重新分配資金。但我認為到目前為止我們非常幸運，還沒有真正感受到今天停工帶來的任何重大影響。

Got it. Got it. That's helpful. And go ahead. Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.

知道了。知道了。那很有幫助。請繼續。對不起，我不是故意打斷你的。

The only thing I'd add is like the requirement for what the SDA is doing is not diminishing. It's expanding. So it's an important program. So as far as like the need for the program, that's not getting smaller.

我唯一要補充的是，基督復臨安息日會（SDA）所做的事情的要求並沒有降低。它正在擴張。所以這是一個重要的項目。所以，就該專案的需求而言，這種需求並沒有減少。

Got it, that's fair. I'll leave it for one. Thanks guys.

明白了，很合理。我就留給一個人吧。謝謝各位。

Jeffrey Van Rhee, Craig-Hallum.

傑弗裡·範·李，克雷格·哈勒姆。

Great, thanks for sneaking in here. Andy, on the margins and the gross margins for Q4 in the guide, it looks like maybe a couple of hundred basis points of sequential improvement. Is that just kind of break it down maybe a little more? Which side of the business are you expecting that sequential increase? And then any sort of even in clean as to maybe revisions on what you think target gross margins might be for either of those 2 segments?

太好了，謝謝你偷偷溜進來。安迪，根據第四季業績指引中的利潤率和毛利率來看，似乎環比改善了幾百個基點。這樣是不是可以再詳細解釋一下？您預期業務的哪個面向會季比成長？那麼，對於這兩個業務板塊的目標毛利率，您是否有任何修改意見？

Yes. So the gross margin trend and the improvement sequentially Q3 to Q4, again, is driven really by a mix where as we get more scale into our Electron business, and we've always talked about cadence, I think super important for the margin profile for that business because there's so much fixed cost related to it. So as you scale cadence and Pete kind of mentioned earlier in his comments that we're expecting hitting a new record for launches in the year. So obviously, that's all good for overhead absorption. So think of it as there's a lot of good underlying dynamics going on within the launch business as far as size of the backlog, the ASP increasing within that backlog.

是的。因此，毛利率趨勢以及從第三季度到第四季度的環比改善，實際上是由多種因素共同推動的，隨著我們的電子業務規模不斷擴大，我們一直強調節奏的重要性，我認為這對該業務的利潤率至關重要，因為該業務涉及大量固定成本。所以隨著節奏的加快，正如 Pete 之前在評論中提到的，我們預計今年的發布數量將創下新紀錄。顯然，這對吸收營運成本非常有利。所以，你可以把它看作是發布業務中有很多良好的潛在動態，例如積壓訂單的規模，以及積壓訂單中的平均售價不斷提高。

We're getting greater overhead absorption benefits. So that's really kind of what's driving the strength in the launch business. And as it becomes a bigger piece of the mix in Q4, that's really the biggest factor. And I would say that within our Space Systems business, the trend of margins actually been quite solid in that as well. We've talked in prior calls about how we've made very, very significant improvements in our gross margins from our Solero solar business.

我們獲得了更大的營運成本吸收效益。所以，這其實就是推動產品上市業務強勁成長的因素。隨著它在第四季所佔比例越來越大，這才是真正的最大因素。而且我認為，在我們航太系統業務方面，利潤率的趨勢也相當穩健。我們在之前的電話會議中談到，我們的 Solero 太陽能業務的毛利率已經取得了非常非常顯著的提高。

We've kind of talked about a long-term target there of we get 30 points of gross margin, that was kind of an aspirational target. I think we're very comfortable that we're very close to that. I think we think about revisiting that 1 upward a bit, I think, but overall, we still believe that we -- that our launch business on Electron first, has the potential to be a 45- to 50-point non-GAAP gross margin business.

我們之前討論過一個長期目標，那就是實現 30 個百分點的毛利率，那是比較理想的目標。我認為我們很有信心，我們已經非常接近目標了。我認為我們應該考慮將這個數字上調一點，但總的來說，我們仍然相信——我們首先在 Electron 上推出的業務，有可能實現 45 到 50 個百分點的非 GAAP 毛利率。

We think long-term Neutron has the ability to be at least as good as that, helped by the reasonability nature of that vehicle. And then on the Space Systems side, it's really -- 2 different elements that kind of have different margin characteristics. On the Space Systems components or subsystems business, that has a wide range with solar kind of being at the lowest end of that and again, around 30 points. Hopefully, we can push that a little bit higher. And for some of our other components business, we have margins that are well north of 60, in some cases, 70 points of margin.

我們認為，從長遠來看，Neutron 至少有能力達到與它一樣好的性能，這得益於該飛行器的合理性。而在空間系統方面，其實是兩個不同的要素，它們具有不同的裕度特性。在航太系統組件或子系統業務方面，範圍很廣，太陽能算是其中的最低端，大約在 30 點左右。希望我們能再提高一點。對於我們的一些其他零件業務，我們的利潤率遠高於 60 個百分點，在某些情況下甚至高達 70 個百分點。

And I think overall, that kind of brings the gross market profile for that subsystems business around, call it, low to mid-40s.

總的來說，我認為這大致使該子系統業務的市場規模達到了 40 左右。

The satellite manufacturing business because of the nature of those programs, we're able to take what for many people is either high single-digit or low double-digit gross margins and have those more in, call it, the -- I'd say 25 to 35 points, depending on the programs because of the level of vertical operation that we bring because those same components that we sell into the merchant market at very high margins, we basically obviously designed into our platforms. So I think longer term, I think we still see again a gross margin business from Launch that is in the -- call it, 50% range and for Space Systems, probably in the -- I'd say the 40%, maybe low 40s percent gross margin range, so it puts in a nice spot overall.

由於衛星製造業務的特殊性質，我們能夠將許多人眼中高個位數或低兩位數的毛利率提高到——我估計是 25% 到 35% 的水平，具體取決於項目，因為我們帶來了垂直整合的運營水平，因為我們以非常高的利潤率向商業市場銷售的那些組件，基本上都是我們設計到我們自己的平台中的。所以我認為從長遠來看，Launch 的毛利率業務仍然會保持在 50% 左右，而 Space Systems 的毛利率業務可能在 40% 左右，甚至可能在 40% 出頭，所以總體而言，它處於一個不錯的位置。

But I think it's also helpful to note that in Space Systems, it's not as R&D intensive as the Launch business when you're getting a new vehicle established. So the operating margins or contribution margins for the Space Systems business, even the ones that aren't kind of in those high gross margin ranges, is still quite healthy. And then I think -- again, I think the margins for our Launch speak for themselves

但我認為還有必要指出，在航太系統領域，研發投入不像發射業務那麼密集，尤其是在研發一種新型飛行器時。因此，即使是那些毛利率並不高的航太系統業務，其營業利潤率或貢獻利潤率仍然相當健康。然後我想——再說一遍，我認為我們發布會的利潤率本身就說明了一切。

Got it. Got it. Very helpful. Last 1 then on Space Systems. The -- can you talk about the pipeline?

知道了。知道了。很有幫助。最後1點是關於太空系統的。能談談這條管道嗎？

Obviously, Tranche-2, Tranche-3 are big needle movers, but the next layer beneath that look like? Like how many 8-figure, 9-figure deals, just some semblance of what the distribution of deal sizes that are later stage in the pipeline would be helpful. Thanks.

顯然，第二層和第三層的資料波動很大，但下一層又會是什麼樣子呢？例如，有多少筆八位數、九位數的交易，只要大致了解處於後期階段的交易規模分佈情況，就會很有幫助。謝謝。

Yes. So there's -- we're always chasing a variety of stuff. So I think the intelligence community and the is obviously big opportunities for us. And things like GEOs really provide us new kind of access and visibility to some things that aren't very visible at all. So on that side of the equation, I think there's really good opportunities for us there.

是的。所以，我們總是在追求各種各樣的東西。所以我認為情報界顯然對我們來說有很大的機會。像 GEO 這樣的技術確實為我們提供了一種新的途徑，讓我們接觸到一些原本不太容易被看見的事物。所以從這個角度來看，我認為我們有很多很好的機會。

But I would say also, like if we think about the bids that we've got in play, there's also some extremely meaty commercial bids as well. So I would say it's fairly well distributed across -- the opportunity is fairly well distributed across both commercial and defense, but there's always the big (inaudible) programs. But I mean, all of the business units, we kind of run the business units like little start-up companies as well. And they're expected to grow really healthily every year. And you see new products coming on all the time because as they reach the saturation with their customers.

但我想說的是，如果我們考慮一下目前正在進行的競標，也會發現其中有一些非常有分量的商業競標。所以我覺得機會分佈得相當均勻——商業和國防領域的機會分佈得相當均勻，但總是會有一些大型（聽不清楚）項目。但我的意思是，我們所有的業務部門，我們都像經營小型新創公司一樣來經營它們。預計它們每年都會健康生長。你會發現新產品層出不窮，因為它們已經達到了市場飽和狀態。

These business units have to develop new products to continue that growth. So this year alone, I think it's been a really, really great year. There's -- we set goals for those units.

這些業務部門必須開發新產品才能維持成長動能。所以單就今年而言，我認為真是非常棒的一年。我們為這些部門設定了目標。

And then there's kind of the Pet stretch goal. And they've all met or exceeded the peak stretch goal this year. So it's not just about -- I guess what I'm saying it's not just about these big projects. They're obviously an important needle moving, but just the underlying business and just continuing to drive that growth in all the business units in the underlying business is equally as important.

然後還有寵物相關的延伸目標。而且他們今年都達到或超越了預期的目標。所以，這不僅僅是——我想說的是，這不僅僅是關於這些大型專案。它們顯然是重要的推動因素，但基礎業務以及繼續推動基礎業務所有業務部門的成長同樣重要。

Got it. Congrats on the great performance. Thanks.

知道了。恭喜你表現出色。謝謝。

Anthony Valentini, Goldman Sachs.

安東尼·瓦倫蒂尼，高盛。

Hey guys, thanks for getting me on. Just a quick clarification question on the backlog and Neutron. Is there anything in the backlog today for Neutron or is it zero?

嘿，夥計們，謝謝你們讓我加入。關於積壓工作和 Neutron，我有個簡單的澄清問題。今天Neutron的待辦事項有積壓嗎？還是零？

Yes, Anthony, we do have -- we have launches in backlog for Neutron. There are 2 fully priced missions in the backlog right now for Neutron. There's a third contracted mission, which is right now anticipated to be a rideshare, but we don't have that in backlog because we don't do that until we've actually added the payloads into the manifesting. Again, we've got a primary customer, but not -- on that third launch, we've not put in the backlog yet.

是的，安東尼，我們確實有——我們積壓了一些中子號的發射任務。目前 Neutron 有 2 個全價任務處於待辦狀態。還有第三個已簽約的任務，目前預計是共乘運輸，但我們還沒有把它列入待辦事項清單，因為我們只有在將有效載荷添加到清單中之後才會進行這項工作。再次強調，我們已經有了主要客戶，但是——關於第三次發布，我們還沒有將其列入待辦事項清單。

Okay. That's helpful. And is there a way to think through how backlog for Neutron specifically ramps up? Like does that happen once you guys do that first R&D launch? Or is it a certain number of successful launches?

好的。那很有幫助。有沒有辦法仔細考慮 Neutron 的積壓工作是如何逐步增加的？例如，你們完成第一次研發成果發布後，就會發生這種情況嗎？或者，是達到一定的成功發布次數？

Just historically, and like what you guys know about the industry, like how does that start to flow through?

從歷史角度來看，就像你們對這個行業的了解一樣，這種了解是如何開始滲透到各個環節的呢？

Yes, it's a good question, Anthony. And I think we sort of alluded to this in one of the previous questions. It's like -- we don't want to let anybody down. And people when they're looking to buy Neutrons aren't typically looking for one, they're looking for many. So a number of customers are looking to see that the vehicle does work and it scales.

是的，安東尼，你問得好。我認為我們在之前的某個問題中已經稍微提到過這一點。我們就像是──我們不想讓任何人失望。人們在購買 Neutron 時，通常不是只想要一個，而是想要很多個。因此，許多客戶都想看看這輛車是否真的有效，以及它是否具有可擴展性。

So -- and we work very closely with those customers as we go along and these are both commercial and government customers. So I think the unlocking point is certainly a successful flight in a number of these contracts, but also that we want to make sure we don't let customers down. And the last thing we want to do, and we've talked about this previously, is customers will be happy to book a bunch of Neutron like half price, and we're just not going to do that.

所以－我們會與這些客戶密切合作，這些客戶既包括商業客戶也包括政府客戶。所以我認為，解鎖的關鍵點當然是這些合約中的一些航班能夠成功執行，但我們也想確保不會讓客戶失望。我們最不想看到的就是（我們之前也討論過），客戶會很樂意以半價預訂一大堆 Neutron，但我們絕對不會這麼做。

Right. Okay. That makes a ton of sense. And then last one for you, Peter. As I'm thinking through the opportunity set on the Tranche-3 transport layer and just looking back at the previous tranches, there's competition from the defense primes these new space tech companies, including yourself, I'm curious how you think through the differentiators for Rocket Lab and when you guys are presenting to the customer, what you think really separates you from the rest of the group?

正確的。好的。這很有道理。最後，彼得，給你最後一個問題。當我思考第三批次運輸層的機會，並回顧先前的批次時，我發現國防主要承包商和包括貴公司在內的新興太空技術公司都在與之競爭。我很好奇您是如何看待 Rocket Lab 的差異化優勢的，以及在向客戶進行演示時，您認為真正讓您從其他公司中脫穎而出的是什麼？

Yes. So I think one of the big separators and one of the reasons why we won a prime spot on our first SDA contractors that we're so vertically integrated that if you look across all of these programs, they're typically plagued by delays. Not so much cost overruns because it's a firm fixed price, but certainly delays and when you control so much of your own supply chain, then if there's a delay in the component, you get to choose what resources you sell or push around to solve that problem. So I think that's a big element is just schedule certainty. Obviously, Adam talked about some of the margin stacking.

是的。所以我認為，我們之所以能在首批 SDA 承包商中佔據重要地位，其中一個主要原因就是我們實現了高度垂直整合，如果你縱觀所有這些項目，就會發現它們通常都受到延誤的困擾。成本超支倒不是什麼大問題，因為價格是固定的，但一定會有延誤。當你掌控著自己供應鏈的大部分環節時，如果某個零件出現延誤，你就可以選擇出售或調動哪些資源來解決這個問題。所以我認為，日程安排的確定性是一個重要因素。顯然，亞當談到了一些利潤疊加的問題。

So price is a big element as well. But at the end of the day, all the stuff has got to work and this is where your reputation in this industry is just so critical and why we just never deviate from putting ourselves in a position where that can get compromised. When people buy a piece of Rocket Lab hardware, firstly, it turns up and it looks great, and it works. And in an industry where that seems to be challenging. I think that's an important element.

所以價格也是一個重要因素。但歸根結底，所有的一切都必須奏效，而這正是你在這個行業中的聲譽如此關鍵的原因，也是為什麼我們絕不會讓自己陷入可能損害聲譽的境地。當人們購買 Rocket Lab 的硬體時，首先，它到貨後看起來很棒，而且確實能用。而在這個行業裡，這似乎頗具挑戰性。我認為這是一個重要因素。

And also finally, there's a set of requirements and then there's how you go about solving those set of requirements like with the technologies that you can bring to bear. And we just have such a war chest of technologies that we can bring to bear to provide solutions to meet everybody's requirements and then some that I think it puts us in a really strong position.

最後，還有一系列需求，以及你如何利用各種技術來解決這些需求。我們擁有如此豐富的技術儲備，可以運用這些技術提供解決方案，滿足每個人的需求，甚至更多，我認為這使我們處於非常有利的地位。

Great. Thank you so much for the thoughtful response.

偉大的。非常感謝您的周到回覆。

Kristine Liwag, Morgan Stanley.

克莉絲汀‧利瓦格，摩根士丹利。

Okay, good evening, everyone. Peter, Adam, from your commentary from a previous question, I mean, it sounds like you're not going to go out there and go buy Spectrum. So first question, is that a fair assessment of your statement earlier. And also second to that, with over $1 billion in liquidity and with the broader and deeper capability set in Space Systems, what's your priority for M&A?

好的，各位晚上好。Peter、Adam，從你們之前對某個問題的評論來看，我的意思是，聽起來你們好像不會去收購Spectrum公司。所以第一個問題是，我這樣評價你之前的陳述是否公正？其次，公司擁有超過 10 億美元的流動資金，並且在航太系統領域擁有更廣泛、更深入的能力，那麼你們的併購重點是什麼？

Yes. So we look at a number of things, Kristine. So I would say that there's always opportunities for tuck-ins and you've seen that with things like Mynaric where that gives us a capability that we didn't have. So we'll always do those. But I think the GEOs acquisition is a really good example about acquiring a company that just brings us into a totally different customer set and a totally different capability and also puts us at a totally different level.

是的。所以我們需要考慮很多方面，克里斯汀。所以我認為總是會有機會進行整合，就像 Mynaric 這樣的產品一樣，它賦予了我們以前不具備的能力。所以我們會一直做這些事。但我認為收購 GEOs 就是一個很好的例子，說明收購一家公司可以讓我們進入一個完全不同的客戶群體，獲得完全不同的能力，並將我們提升到一個完全不同的水平。

If you think of the big traditional primes, the one thing that sets them apart from lots of little space companies is they own the payload. So we'll continue to look for opportunities there where we can own the payload and really drive the missions. And look, we're always looking at big needle moving stuff as well. And we always look for things that we think have a step change in either scale or other elements of the company. So that's the way we look about this the way we think about it.

想想那些傳統的大型航太公司，它們與許多小型航太公司最大的區別在於，它們擁有有效載荷。因此，我們將繼續尋找機會，在那裡我們可以掌控有效載荷並真正主導任務。而且，我們也一直在關注那些能產生重大影響力的事情。我們總是尋找那些我們認為在規模或其他方面會對公司產生變革性影響的事物。這就是我們看待和思考這個問題的方式。

Super helpful. And look, when you look out into the market, it's hard not to see what SpaceX is doing in terms of their path towards that end-to-end space solutions. So when you look at your portfolio today, I mean it looks like you're kind of marching in a similar direction with your (inaudible) product set to and now you've got these additional payloads. Where do you see your role in terms of that industry? Do you, at some point, want to own your own constellation and be able to sell more of that as a service.

非常有用。而且，當你放眼市場時，很難忽視 SpaceX 在實現端到端太空解決方案方面所做的努力。所以，當你審視你今天的產品組合時，我的意思是，看起來你正朝著類似的方向前進，你的（聽不清楚）產品集也朝著這個方向發展，現在你又增加了這些額外的有效載荷。您認為自己在該行業中扮演什麼角色？你是否希望在某個時候擁有自己的星座，並能夠將其作為服務出售？

How do we think about where you are in this journey? And what does the end look like?

我們如何看待您在這段旅程中所處的階段？結局會是什麼樣子？

Yes. We're just sort of quietly and methodically going about making sure we amass all of the kind of the strategic elements we need to ultimately deploy things at scale. So Neutron is really an important element of that. If you look at others, access to space and low-cost rapid and reliable access to space is kind of the place you start and Neutron gives us that multi-tone capability. And then as you point out, you look at the Space Systems growth then really, at this stage, I don't think there's any satellite we can't go and build.

是的。我們正在悄悄地、有條不紊地進行，以確保我們累積所有必要的戰略要素，最終實現大規模部署。所以中子是其中非常重要的元素。如果你看看其他方面，進入太空以及低成本、快速、可靠的進入太空途徑是關鍵所在，而 Neutron 為我們提供了這種多音調能力。正如你所指出的，看看航太系統的發展，就會發現，在現階段，我認為沒有任何衛星是我們造不出來的。

I mean we've got 2 going to mass here shortly. So if you want to talk about complexity of spacecraft.

我的意思是，我們這裡馬上就有兩個人要去參加彌撒了。所以，如果你想談談太空船的複雜性。

So I think from an engineering perspective and a component perspective, all of those kind of bases are loaded. And we'll be very strategic about how we think about the next step, which would be building our own constellation and whether we're providing services or infrastructure, I think, is yet to be determined.

所以我覺得從工程角度和組件角度來看，所有這些基礎都已經具備了。我們將非常注重策略性地思考下一步，即建立我們自己的星座，至於我們是提供服務還是提供基礎設施，我認為還有待確定。

Great. Thank you very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Peter Arment, Baird.

Peter Arment，Baird。

Yeah, hey, thanks, nice results, Pete and Adam. Just a quick one, I guess, on Electron, more of the demand environment. I think you've previously talked about the demand for around 30 electronic flights a year. I was wondering if that still kind of holds just given the uplift that we've seen tied to kind of all the national security launches and kind of what's going to be expected with Golden Dome and additional testing if there's upward bias to that. And it certainly seems like it. Thanks.

是啊，嘿，謝謝，結果不錯，皮特和亞當。我只想簡單談談 Electron，主要是需求環境的問題。我想你之前曾提到每年大約需要 30 次電子飛行。我想知道，考慮到我們已經看到的與所有國家安全發射相關的提振，以及金穹頂和額外測試帶來的預期，這種說法是否仍然成立，是否存在向上偏差。看起來確實如此。謝謝。

Yes, Peter. I mean, look, I think that's fair. If -- depending on how quickly and what scale Golden Dome grows to, I think we're in a very strong position to provide critical services there. And we see nothing but upward trajectory in both government taste and commercial launches for that product.

是的，彼得。我的意思是，你看，我覺得這很公平。如果——這取決於金穹頂發展的速度和規模——我認為我們處於非常有利的地位，可以在那裡提供關鍵服務。我們看到，無論是政府對該產品的興趣，或是該產品的商業推廣，都呈現上升趨勢。

Appreciate that. And just a quick follow-up, thanks for the comments on Archimedes, the testing that you've been doing. Could you give us a little context? Is that much different in terms of the rate that you did originally with the Rutherfords around Electron? Thanks.

謝謝。最後再補充一點，感謝您對阿基米德的評論以及您所做的測試。能否提供一些背景資訊？就速率而言，這和你最初用盧瑟福方法在電子附近進行的研究相比，差異很大嗎？謝謝。

Yes, it is. It is at a much, much higher intensity in rate because for Rutherford, we only had to do half the job, meaning that we only had to go up -- for our committees, we have to go up and down. So it's like twice the amount of environments, twice the amount of run box and twice the amount of qualification.

是的。它的強度要高得多，因為對於盧瑟福來說，我們只需要完成一半的工作，也就是說我們只需要向上移動——而對於我們的委員會來說，我們必須上下移動。所以環境數量翻了一番，運作環境數量翻了一番，資格認證數量也翻了一番。

Appreciate the call. Thanks guys.

感謝您的來電。謝謝各位。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Peter Beck for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我謹將會議交還給彼得·貝克，請他作總結發言。

Great. Thanks very much and thanks for the thoughtful questions. So before we close out today, I would like to share that Medco is finishing up his time on the Rocket Lab Board of Directors. Matt's tenure as a member of the Board will end November 30. Matt is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at a deep tech venture capital firm, DCVC and was one of Rocket Lab's earliest investors serving as a member of the Board since August 2021.

偉大的。非常感謝，也感謝您提出的這些很有見地的問題。在今天結束之前，我想告訴大家，Medco 即將結束他在 Rocket Lab 董事會的任期。馬特的董事會成員任期將於11月30日結束。Matt 是深度科技創投公司 DCVC 的共同創辦人兼管理合夥人，也是 Rocket Lab 最早的投資者之一，自 2021 年 8 月以來一直擔任董事會成員。

And as a member of the legacy Rocket Lab Board since January 2017, so since then, we've been incredibly grateful for his leadership and his guidance as we grew Rocket Lab together from a small startup to a publicly listed company, one of the world's leading global space firms. And look, I just personally also want to thank Matt for backing us from the beginning and wish him all the best, has continued work in deep tech as he transitions out of Rocket Lab.

自 2017 年 1 月以來，他一直是 Rocket Lab 董事會的成員，從那時起，我們一直非常感謝他的領導和指導，我們共同將 Rocket Lab 從一家小型創業公司發展成為一家上市公司，成為世界領先的全球太空公司之一。另外，我個人也想感謝 Matt 從一開始就支持我們，並祝他一切順利，在他離開 Rocket Lab 後，能夠繼續在深科技領域工作。

Otherwise, here are some upcoming events and conferences that the team will be attending. We look forward to sharing more exciting news and updates with you there. And thanks for joining us. That wraps up today's call, and we look forward to speaking with you again soon and sharing some more progress at Rocket Lab.

此外，以下是團隊將要參加的一些活動和會議。我們期待在那裡與您分享更多令人興奮的消息和最新消息。感謝您的參與。今天的電話會議到此結束，我們期待盡快再次與您交流，並分享 Rocket Lab 的更多進展。

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議到此結束。感謝各位參加今天的報告會。您現在可以斷開連線了。