Where Aerospace Meets Defense
Aerospace and defense have always been close cousins, and the space economy is pulling them even tighter. Rockets carry both commercial satellites and military payloads. Ground stations track both weather birds and missile warnings. The same companies increasingly serve both customers, which is the idea behind the “Galactic Supply Chain” pitch from The Crow’s Nest.
The three names in the pitch map neatly onto that overlap: one in launch, one in space stations and interceptors, and one in testing and ground systems. Together they sketch the full arc of where aerospace ends and defense begins.
Rocket Lab: The Launch Layer
Rocket Lab is the first reveal, and it owns the launch layer. Founded by Peter Beck, the company operates the Electron rocket for small payloads and is developing Neutron, a larger vehicle aimed at heavier launches. Its Photon satellite bus turns the launch business into an end-to-end spacecraft offer, so customers can buy a ride to orbit and the satellite to go on it.
Rocket Lab went public through a SPAC merger in 2021, and it has become one of the more credible challengers to SpaceX on the small and medium launch side. For the full company story, our Rocket Lab on Nasdaq explainer covers the launch business in depth.
Kratos: The Test and Ground Layer
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS) sits on the defense-heavy end of the overlap. Its biggest contract is MACH-TB, the five-year, roughly $1.45 billion hypersonic test bed awarded in January 2025, which makes it the Pentagon’s lead on testing weapons that fly above Mach 5.
On the commercial-adjacent side, Kratos runs OpenSpace, a software-defined ground systems platform that the pitch calls “the AWS of satellite ground systems.” Every satellite operator, commercial or military, needs ground stations, and OpenSpace turns that into subscription software. That is Kratos spanning the exact boundary between aerospace and defense.
Voyager: The Station and Interceptor Layer
Voyager Technologies is the third layer, the space station and interceptor specialist. It is the lead designer and prime contractor on Starlab, the commercial space station meant to succeed the International Space Station, and it holds defense work on Golden Dome, the Next Generation Interceptor, and the Raytheon Standard Missile program.
Voyager generates roughly 84% of its revenue from the U.S. government and carries a defense backlog of about $275.3 million, up 54% year over year. It is the most government-weighted of the three, and the least commercial. We covered the space-defense side of that story in our space defense stocks piece.
Why the Overlap Matters
The reason the overlap matters to investors is diversification. A company that sells to both NASA and the Pentagon, or to both commercial satellite operators and the Space Force, has two revenue sources instead of one. When commercial funding is tight, government work holds up, and the other way around.
That is the deeper argument in the pitch: that the space economy is becoming one integrated supply chain, and the winners will be the companies that can serve both halves. It is a reasonable framework, even if the specific price targets attached to it run ahead of the fundamentals.
Why This Is Different From a Pure Space Play
A pure space play, like a launch company or a satellite operator, lives and dies on commercial demand. The Galactic Supply Chain names are different because they have government revenue underneath the commercial story, which changes the risk profile.
Rocket Lab carries commercial launch customers plus government payloads, and its Neutron rocket is aimed at both markets. Voyager leans almost entirely on the government, while Kratos splits its work between hypersonic testing and satellite ground systems that serve both sides. That mix is what makes these aerospace-defense stocks rather than pure aerospace bets, and it is the core of the pitch’s appeal. The commercial upside is real, but so is the government floor.
The Honest Read
The aerospace-defense overlap is real, and the three picks map to it cleanly. Rocket Lab owns launch, Kratos owns testing and ground systems, and Voyager owns stations and interceptors. Each has a legitimate government or commercial franchise, which is more than most speculative space pitches can claim.
The caution is the usual one: the market has already noticed. Kratos trades above 40 times forward earnings, and the re-rating logic that says a $9 billion contractor should carry a SpaceX-style multiple is a stretch. The companies are real; the price you pay for them is the part to watch. For a broader look at the sector, see our space stocks to buy explainer.
Ready to see the research? Click here to access Jason Simpkins’s report.
NewsletterVetter is an independent publication. We receive compensation from some of the services we review through affiliate links. Nothing on this site is investment advice. Always do your own research.