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LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 9: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth say "And my challenge to each industry leader in this country. I've said it a little bit already, but it's worth emphasizing the days of rewarding the comfortable old guard for failure are finished. We will provide larger, longer and more predictable contracts to companies like this one. Companies that can actually deliver at pace and at scale. We will reward leaders who choose to invest in their workers, who expand their capacity, and who share our sense of urgency. We will reward those who choose to deploy their resources toward bolstering production, not stock buyback programs or dividends. The mission is quite simple. If you deliver for America, the government is going to have your back. If you don't, you should get in a different business. We are deadly serious about the arsenal of freedom. I hope you saw our acquisitions and requirements transformation speech from a couple of months. We're changing the entire way. The Pentagon does business in acquiring and requirements, taking things that took years two to 3 to 4 years, down to months. The speed of the kind of innovation we're seeing in the battlefield right now, and ongoing conflicts that are going to be required in ones we might have to fight." to employees of Rocket Lab in Long Beach after winning major government contracts to build satellites at on January 9, 2026 in Long Beach, California. The visit comes as Rocket Lab secures a $816 million deal to build 18 missile-tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency. (Footage by Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)