Rocket Lab Corp. announced plans to acquire Geost, an electro-optical and infrared payload development firm, from Lightridge Solutions for $275 million.

The acquisition puts Rocket Lab squarely in the satellite payload segment with plans to close the deal by the end of 2025.

Based in Long Beach, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company that specializes in launch services, satellite manufacturing and supplying spacecraft components. The move to acquire Geost will give Rocket Lab the ability to produce spacecraft systems in-house, reduce costs, maintain availability of materials and speed up their manufacturing timelines, the company said.

Rocket Lab labels itself as a “disruptor” within the space industry and describes this event as “just the beginning” of their move to dominate the sector.

“Rocket Lab was founded to disrupt the traditional space industry, and we’re doing just that by expanding our ability to deliver complete, mission critical space solutions,” said Rocket Lab Chief Executive Sir Peter Beck. “With the acquisition of Geost, we’re bringing advanced electro-optical and infrared payloads in-house to support secure, responsive, and cost-effective systems at scale.”

New missions on the horizon

With more than two hundred payload deployments and one launch pad in New Zealand and two in the U.S., Rocket Lab has been associated with more than 1700 missions globally, providing materials for the James Webb Space Telescope and deploying 224 satellites.

The company recently announced two new missions for 2025 as well as a second successful launch for iQPS, which is a Japanese space technology company. They have provided satellites deployed to orbit for multiple companies, with some big names among them like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Space Force and Canon Inc. These satellites serve for multiple purposes of defense, academic, commercial and civil.

They will acquire Geost from parent company LightRidge solutions and portfolio company of ATL Partners. Geost builds and develops electro optical and infrared sensors for space system reliability and survivability. The acquisition was signed for $275 million, in the payment of $125 million in cash, $150 million in stock, as well as $50 million in potential business earnings.

“With the acquisition of Geost, we’re bringing advanced electro-optical and infrared payloads in-house to support secure, responsive, and cost-effective systems at scale,” said Beck.

‘The Golden Dome Project’

Rocket Lab has set its sights on becoming a central contractor with the United Staes Pentagon’s satellite programs. Beck has stated this will not be their final acquisition, and in the past, they’ve acquired Mynaric and Planetary Systems among others to edge their way into the national security market.

There has also been a slow push to put much of its focus on putting them into a position to bid for President Trumps “Golden Dome Project”, a plan to build a multi-layer defense dome over the United States to protect and intercept from inbound missile attacks, a project that requires sensors much like the ones Geost is manufacturing and providing for the system.

“The addition of payloads to its vertically integrated portfolio not only expands mission capability but also elevates Rocket Lab’s standing as a leading end-to-end space systems provider” said Bill Gattle, who is Geost’s general manager and Lightridge Solutions chief executive. With this acquisition Rocket Lab will now gain the company’s product assets, manufacturing facilities, and laboratories in Arizona and Virginia, bringing Rocket Labs total employee number to over 2,600.