The short answer
Rocket Lab (RKLB) is doubtful in this screen. Its March 2026 filing produces failed liquidity tests under the FTSE Yasaar, MSCI total-assets and Malaysia SAC calculations, and its disclosed interest-income ratio is just above the FTSE-style 5% threshold represented here. Rocket Lab also serves government and other customers across launch services and space systems, but public reporting does not provide a defensible defense or prohibited-revenue numerator. The qualitative business conclusion is therefore evidence-limited rather than an invented percentage.
This is a research screen, not a fatwa or investment recommendation. Scholars and screening providers can differ on dual-use technology, government contracts, customer financing and the treatment of financial ratios.
Current quantitative Sharia screen
Based on 10-Q figures for the period ended 2026-03-31; calculated 2026-07-13.
53,153 / 2,819,941
1,476,845 / 2,819,941
1,280,454 / 2,819,941
10,149 / 200,348
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Cash plus marketable securities are 52.37% of total assets, above the examined 33.333% limit, and disclosed interest income is 5.07%, above the examined 5% limit. Debt is 1.88% and receivables plus cash are 45.41%.
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Cash plus marketable securities are 52.37% and receivables plus cash are 45.41% of total assets, above the examined 33.33% total-assets limits.
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Identifiable conventional liquidity is 52.37% of total assets, above the examined 33% limit. This is a calculation against SAC ratios, not an official SAC classification of a U.S.-listed security.
- Financial
- Not calculated
- Overall
- Not calculated
A properly licensed and reproducible historical market-cap series is not stored.
Business-activity disclosure
Rocket Lab operates launch services and space-systems businesses, including spacecraft components and spacecraft manufacturing. Commercial space and communications work can be lawful, while dual-use, defense and national-security missions require separate customer, contract and end-use review.
Limitation: Public reporting does not provide a reproducible prohibited-revenue numerator by defense, intelligence, weapons, surveillance, national-security, civilian-government or commercial end use.
Purification
Interest income is 5.07% of quarterly revenue and includes 562 of customer-financing interest, but the screened operating-revenue numerator is unavailable; this record does not prescribe a fixed purification amount.
Inputs, assumptions and primary sources
- Interest-bearing debt uses the reported convertible senior notes of 36,869, long-term borrowings of 1,716 and non-current finance lease liabilities of 14,568; finance leases are included conservatively.
- Cash and cash equivalents use 1,205,499. Interest-bearing securities use current and non-current marketable securities of 177,852 and 93,494; the filing identifies commercial paper, corporate debt, Yankee bonds, Treasury securities, certificates of deposit and asset-backed securities.
- Accounts receivable uses the reported net balance of 74,955. Contract assets are not added to this input because they are separately disclosed and are not billed accounts receivable.
- Quarterly revenue and separately reported interest income use the matching three-month period ended March 31, 2026.
- The filing reports a government customer at 36% of quarterly revenue but does not allocate revenue between commercial, civilian-government, defense, intelligence, national-security or other end uses.
This is a reproducible financial screen, not a fatwa. A failed total-assets screen can coexist with a pass under a market-cap methodology. ZakatInvest keeps the qualitative assessment separate so numerical thresholds do not erase material context.
Current quantitative screen
The calculations above use Rocket Lab's official filing for the first quarter of 2026, for the period ended March 31, 2026. Amounts are in USD thousands and use total assets as the denominator so the calculation can be reproduced from the balance sheet.
- Interest-bearing debt / assets: 1.88%, including convertible notes, long-term borrowings and finance-lease liabilities.
- Cash plus marketable securities / assets: 52.37%, above the examined 33.333% FTSE and 33.33% MSCI limits and the 33% Malaysia limit.
- Receivables plus cash / assets: 45.41%, above the examined 33.33% MSCI limit but below the 50% FTSE limit.
- Disclosed interest income / quarterly revenue: 5.07%. This is just above the examined 5% FTSE-style income threshold; it is not a complete purification prescription.
Market-cap-denominator methods are shown as not calculated because this site does not store a licensed, reproducible historical market-cap series for the filing date. The liquidity result uses current and non-current marketable securities, which the filing describes as including commercial paper, corporate debt, Yankee bonds, Treasury securities, certificates of deposit and asset-backed securities.
What Rocket Lab does
Rocket Lab reports two operating segments: launch services and space systems. Launch services include dedicated and rideshare missions; space systems includes spacecraft components and spacecraft manufacturing. Commercial communications, research and observation uses can be lawful, but a product or service that is dual-use must be assessed in light of the customer, contract and end use.
Qualitative considerations
The filing identifies a government customer representing 36% of quarterly revenue. That disclosure is material, but it does not establish that 36% is defense, intelligence or otherwise prohibited revenue. The company does not disclose a reproducible split by defense, intelligence, national-security, civilian-government, commercial or other end use, so we do not manufacture one.
- Dual-use missions: satellite launch and spacecraft systems can serve communications, Earth observation, science and research as well as defense, intelligence, hypersonic or national-security programs.
- Contract evidence: investors who avoid defense-adjacent work may require customer- and mission-level evidence before treating government revenue as permissible.
- Customer financing: Rocket Lab reports customer-financing receivables and 562 of customer-financing interest income within quarterly interest income; the financing terms deserve separate review.
- Governance and controls: export controls, weapons-related end use, procurement integrity, supply chain, safety and human-rights safeguards are relevant for a dual-use aerospace supplier.
A future filing with a more granular customer or end-use breakdown, a material change in government work, or credible evidence about a specific mission would justify a fresh qualitative review. The original concern about growing defense contracts remains a review topic, not a current quantified conclusion.
How the methodology results differ
No single ratio is universal. Under the FTSE Yasaar, MSCI total-assets and Malaysia SAC calculations reproduced above, Rocket Lab fails because identifiable liquidity is above each examined limit; FTSE also fails the disclosed-income test and MSCI fails the receivables-plus-cash test. This page does not claim official index membership or a universal scholarly verdict.
Bottom line
RKLB is presented as doubtful here: the current filing fails the examined financial methods, while the company's government and dual-use end-use mix cannot be classified precisely from public revenue disclosure. That is narrower than saying all space work is prohibited or that every government contract is impermissible.
If you are considering RKLB, compare this evidence with the methodology and scholar you follow, monitor the next filing, and do not rely on old ratio estimates or unsupported claims about third-party screening status.
Current liquidity and disclosed interest income exceed examined limits, while government end-use detail remains incomplete.
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