Payloads
Precision payloads for the
most demanding missions
Optical Systems
Rocket Lab Optical Systems delivers satellite payloads
purpose-built for U.S. national security and intelligence missions.
Building on more than 20 years of electro-optical and infrared systems innovation from Geost, Rocket Lab’s Optical Systems delivers solutions to the warfighter for responsive, scalable sensing solutions across all orbital domains.
Rocket Lab Optical Systems provide
high-performance electro-optical and infrared
(EO/IR) sensors, secure laser communications, and
advanced mission autonomy solutions. Our sensors
are optimized for precision tracking, real-time
data processing, and resilient operation across
proliferated warfighter architectures.
Manufactured in the U.S. and engineered for
the demands of space protection, missile defense, and
space domain awareness, these systems enable
resilience, rapid attribution, and secure communications
supporting the core national security space capabilities
like the proposed Golden Dome architecture and the
Space Development Agency’s Tracking Layer.
Flight-tested optical systems with a
heritage of 100% on-orbit mission success
delivering when it matters most.
Safeguarding assets
across all orbits
Supporting mission-critical operations across missile defense,
space domain awareness, space protection, and laser
communications, Rocket Lab’s Optical Systems deliver the precision,
speed, and resilience required for today’s contested space domain.
Mission Areas
Missile Defense
Detecting and Tracking Next-Generation Threats
Rocket Lab’s EO/IR systems detect and track hypersonic and ballistic missile threats in real time. Designed for proliferated constellations, our infrared sensors detect, track, and defend against missile threats throughout the boost-glide-reentry chain, supporting early warning networks and enabling responsive, autonomous operations.
Operational Capabilities
- Threat detection and response
- Resilient satellite constellations
- Tactically responsive operations
Space Domain Awareness
Persistent Visibility Across the Orbital Battlespace
Rocket Lab Optical Systems delivers persistent space domain awareness (SDA) solutions from space-based sensors to optical ground observatories—tracking, identifying, and characterizing objects from LEO to cislunar space. Our systems provide near real-time custody of adversary actions, rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) events, and orbital changes that could pose a threat to national assets.
Operational Capabilities
- Detecting, tracking, and characterizing orbital objects
- RPO tracking
- Real-time on-orbit threat identification
Space Protection
Detect, Deter, and Respond to On-Orbit Threats
Our payloads deliver actionable indications and warnings (I&W) for adversarial activity in orbit, enabling fast attribution and effective deterrence. With autonomous onboard analytics, our solutions ensure persistent protection of high-value assets across orbital domains.
Operational Capabilities
- Real-Time I&W
- Low latency and autonomous decision-making
- Supports deterrence through attribution
Sensor
Capabilities
Infrared Sensors
State of the art infrared payloads optimized for ISR and missile warning and missile defense missions
- Shortwave (SWIR), midwave (MWIR), and longwave (LWIR) sensors
- Designed for persistent surveillance in space-based missile defense and protection missions
- Optimized for performance across dynamic operating environments and threat spectrums
Electro-Optical
Advanced sensors supporting SDA and on-orbit sensing operations
- High-resolution imaging with real-time algorithmic processing
- Low- size weight and power (SWaP), compact payloads for scalable constellation integration
- Full EO solutions, from space-based sensors to ground-based data exploitation
- Affordable and purpose-built for national security space architecture
