Our space systems initiative is centered on the design, manufacture, and sale of the Photon family of small spacecraft, which are configurable for a range of low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, geosynchronous orbit and interplanetary missions. Our Photon family of spacecraft enable us to offer an end-to-end mission solution encompassing launch, spacecraft, ground services and mission operations to provide customers with streamlined access to orbit with Rocket Lab as a single mission partner.
Our space systems initiative is also supported by the design and manufacture of a range of components for satellites and other spacecraft, including reaction wheels, star trackers, magnetic torque rods and batteries and has additional products in development to serve a wide variety of sub-system functions. We entered this market with our acquisition of leading spacecraft components manufacturer Sinclair Interplanetary, which brought incremental vertically-integrated capabilities for our own spacecraft and also enabled Rocket Lab to deliver high-volume manufacturing of critical spacecraft components at scale prices to the broader spacecraft merchant market.
Key Metrics and Select Financial Data
We monitor the following key financial and operational metrics that assist us in evaluating our business, measuring our performance, identifying trends and making strategic decisions.
Launch Vehicle Build-Rate and Launch Cadence
We built approximately three launch vehicles in 2019 and built approximately eight launch vehicles in 2020. We plan to continue growing our build rate in 2021 with 12 launch vehicles in 2021 and believe the growth in build rate is a positive indicator of our ability to scale our manufacturing operations in support of our anticipated growth rate in revenue in the coming years.
We launched six vehicles in 2019, seven vehicles in 2020 and four vehicles through July 2021. The number of launches is an indicator of our ability to convert mission awards into revenue in a timely manner and demonstrate the scalability of our launch operations. Growth rates between launches and total revenue are not perfectly correlated because our total revenue is affected by other variables, such as the revenue per launch, which can vary considerably based on factors such as unique orbit and insertion requirements, payload handling needs, launch location, time sensitivity of mission completion and other factors.
Recent developments
Business Combination
On March 1, 2021, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (“Merger Agreement”) with Vector Acquisition Corporation, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company and Cayman Islands exempted company (“Vector”), and Prestige USA Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Rocket Lab (“Merger Sub”) which was subsequently amended on May 7, 2021 and June 25, 2021.
The Mergers will be accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Under this method of accounting, Vector Acquisition Corporation will be treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes and the Company will be treated as the accounting acquirer.
The Mergers closed August 25, 2021, and Vector became a Delaware corporation (“Delaware Vector”), and Merger Sub merged with and into Delaware Vector, with Delaware Vector surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Rocket Lab (the “First Merger”). Immediately following the First Merger, Rocket Lab merged with and into Delaware Vector, with Delaware Vector surviving the merger (“Second Merger”, and together with the First Merger, the “Mergers”) for form the post-transaction combined entity (“New Rocket Lab”). After the Mergers, the gross amount of cash that that the combined company will receive from Vector’s trust account and concurrent PIPE financing upon the closing of the Mergers, before transaction expenses, will be approximately $777 million.
In connection with the Mergers, the shareholders of the Company exchanged their interests in the Company for interests in the New Rocket Lab.
Revenue Growth
Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 and 2020
We generated $29.5 million and $8.8 million in revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, representing a year-on-year increase in revenue of approximately 237%. This year-on-year increase was
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