Rocket Lab Pushes Neutron to 2027 Over Air Bubbles in Tank
By TechPulse USA Newsroom | Published October 16, 2026 Tiny air bubbles — the kind of flaw you might find in a poorly poured resin countertop — just cost Rocket Lab at least three months, roughly a tenth of its market value, and another chunk of its credibility with investors. The company confirmed Wednesday, after the market closed, that the first flight of its Neutron rocket will not happen this year. It is now "expected to occur in 2027." The gut-punch detail is this: engineers found voids, microscopic pockets of trapped air, inside the carbon-composite layers of a brand-new propellant tank dome. The dome might have flown anyway. CEO Peter Beck said so himself. But "might" is not a word he is willing to stake a $50-million-per-launch rocket on, so Rocket Lab is building the dome again — and the launch date, whenever it lands, will come only after the whole first-stage tank survives pressure and cryogenic testing all over again. File illustration: a 3D rende...