Shares of Rocket Lab (RKLB -1.12%) jumped as much as 13.4% in trading this week after the company announced a new launch as early as tomorrow. According to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, shares are up 9% for the week as of 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday.

Rocket Lab's latest launch

On Wednesday, Rocket Lab announced it would add another launch to the schedule in a flight window that begins tomorrow, Oct. 19. The customer wasn't announced and will be the company's 12th launch of 2024.

But that's not the only news bringing attention to rocket launches this week. SpaceX launched their Starship booster and caught it back at the tower it was launched from. The attention the launch got has investors clamoring for where there are opportunities to invest in rocket companies, and Rocket Lab is the leader in public markets.

Where does Rocket Lab go from here?

The additional flight and the hope that increased launches from Rocket Lab and SpaceX will lead to more innovation in satellite development is fueling optimism about the company's future finances. You can see in the chart that revenue is rising, but the company still isn't profitable because there's not enough scale in the business yet.

RKLB Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts

While investors are speculating on an improvement to the bottom line this week, there's a long way to go before the company gets to profitability. That will likely lead to more volatility in the future, for better or worse.