Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in English Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ: RKLB) has been selected to bid for billions in future launches planned by the United States and United Kingdom. Investors are excited about the opportunities these selections create, sending Rocket Lab shares up as much as 15% on Tuesday morning and up 9% as of 11:30 a.m. ET. Rocket Lab is one of several space stocks to emerge in recent years, and the company arguably has done more than anyone else in that class to establish itself as a reliable operator. Launch customers, particularly government launch customers, do not want to do business with unproven start-ups. The company’s latest selection should help its progress. Rocket Lab said it has been selected to provide hypersonic test launch capability through separate U.S. Air Force and U.K. Ministry of Defence programs. The scope of the programs is broad: The Air Force has up to $46 billion to spend through 2031, and the U.K. has $1.3 billion to allocate. To be clear, the announcement does not mean Rocket Lab has been awarded all that revenue. What it means is Rocket Lab has been cleared to bid on the work. For all the progress Rocket Lab has made in recent years, it does not match the gains made by the company’s share price. Rocket Lab shares have more than doubled in the last six months (and at one point, were up more than 200%) as investor excitement about the company and its potential has grown. The excitement is justified, but the actual business will take years to live up to its promise. Trading at more than 20 times sales, Rocket Lab shares can hardly be called a bargain. For those who want in on the new space race, Rocket Lab is among the most attractive investment candidates. But those buying today should expect volatility and keep this high-priced stock to a small part of a well-diversified portfolio. Before you buy stock in Rocket Lab USA, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Rocket Lab USA wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $502,231!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $678,552!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 800% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 156% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks »
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