File photo: A Rocket Lab technician cleans a fuselage in Auckland, New Zealand, October 20, 2015. REUTERS/Nigel Marple/File photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday it planned to award Rocket Lab $23.9 million to dramatically boost the production of compound semiconductors used in satellites and spacecraft.
The award for Rocket Lab unit SolAero Technologies Corp "would help create a more robust and resilient supply of space-grade solar cells that power spacecrafts and satellites", the department said, adding it would "increase Rocket Lab's compound semiconductor production by 50% within the next three years."
