Rocket Lab's Star Tracker Debut and JAXA Mission Can't Stem ARK-Led Selloff

Shares fall as Cathie Wood's ARK Invest offloads $9.6M in Rocket Lab, overshadowing operational wins including a new star tracker and second JAXA mission.

Rocket Lab’s shares took a 5.8% hit on Monday, settling around $79.90, as a wave of selling from Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest collided with an otherwise productive week of operational milestones. The selloff, which extended a six-day slide to roughly six percent, came despite the company unveiling a new high-performance star tracker and completing its second dedicated mission for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on the same day.

ARK offloaded $9.6 million worth of Rocket Lab equity last Friday, a move that appeared to trigger the broader market pullback. The timing was awkward given the stock had just rallied in seven of the prior ten sessions, gaining roughly 17% over two weeks. Wood’s firm simultaneously piled into Amazon shares and took a position in nuclear startup X-Energy on its debut day, suggesting the Rocket Lab sale was more about portfolio rotation than a loss of conviction in the space contractor.

The stock now sits about 20% below its 2026 high of $99.58, a level reached before a fuel tank crack in the Neutron rocket forced a delay of that vehicle’s maiden flight to late 2026. That engineering setback, discovered pre-launch, has pushed major revenue milestones back several quarters and remains a key factor behind the share price decline since January.

New Hardware for Harsh Environments

Rocket Lab’s new ST-HP star tracker is engineered for extended missions in low-Earth orbit and beyond, offering pointing accuracy of under one arcsecond. The component boasts board-level radiation tolerance exceeding 50 kRad, making it suitable for high-radiation environments where stable attitude determination is critical over long durations.

The device expands an already broad in-house portfolio that includes reaction wheels, separation systems, radios, flight software, solar power solutions, and optical payloads — all manufactured at company facilities in the United States, Canada, Germany, and New Zealand. The star tracker is being produced at Rocket Lab’s Toronto plant, which houses thermal chambers, vibration test stands, and cleanroom infrastructure. More than 185 units of earlier tracker models have already flown in space.

Second JAXA Mission Delivers

The "Kakushin Rising" mission lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on April 23, carrying eight satellites for JAXA. The payload manifest included educational satellites, an ocean observation system, a multispectral camera, and a demonstration satellite featuring an origami-inspired foldable antenna that expands to 25 times its stowed size.

The flight marked Rocket Lab’s 87th launch overall and its eighth of 2026. The company has additional missions lined up for the remainder of the year spanning commercial Earth observation, technology demonstration, and national security contracts.

Wall Street Stays Bullish Despite Headwinds

Analysts remain largely unfazed by the recent stock weakness. Stifel reiterated its buy rating on April 20 and lifted its price target from $90 to $105, calling Rocket Lab the leading pure-play space stock with consistent revenue growth and a swelling order book. The median target across 23 Wall Street analysts sits at $88.88, with the consensus rating pegged at "Strong Buy."

The fundamentals support that optimism. Trailing twelve-month revenue reached $601.8 million, up 38% year-over-year, and analysts project roughly 40% growth for the current fiscal year. The first-quarter 2026 report, due after the US market close on May 7, is expected to show revenue of $191.4 million — a 56% jump from the same period last year — with an estimated loss per share of four cents, a marked improvement from the prior year.

That earnings release will be the first since Rocket Lab closed its acquisition of laser-communications specialist Mynaric in mid-April. The deal brings optical communication terminals in-house and strengthens the company’s role as prime contractor for a $1.3 billion Space Development Agency contract covering 36 satellites. The Mynaric integration, combined with a new multi-launch agreement with iQPS and the unveiling of the electric Gauss thruster, had previously driven positive daily reactions in the stock — making Monday’s selloff all the more jarring for investors who had grown accustomed to good news lifting the shares.

The conference call following the Q1 results is scheduled for 2:00 PM Pacific Time on May 7, offering management a chance to address both the Neutron delay and the trajectory of the core launch business.