Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has delivered another Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space Industries, Inc. (“Varda”) to Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in preparation for launch—this is Rocket Lab’s third Pioneer spacecraft produced for Varda, and the second the company has delivered for launch within a month.
The spacecraft will support Varda’s next orbital processing and hypersonic re-entry mission, W-3. Earlier this month, the company’s second spacecraft for Varda, W-2, successfully launched and is currently operating on orbit. Carrying payloads from the Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA’S Ames Research Center, W-2 will also conduct research to expand the capability and capacity of Varda’s pharmaceutical processing hardware on-orbit before the spacecraft’s hypersonic re-entry and recovery in South Australia.
W-3 is based on Rocket Lab’s Pioneer spacecraft, leveraging vertically integrated spacecraft components and subsystems, including spacecraft propulsion, flight software, avionics, reaction wheels, star trackers, separation system, solar panels, radios, composite structures and tanks, and more. The spacecraft will provide power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control for Varda’s 120 kg manufacturing capsule, which uses microgravity conditions to develop products that are difficult or impossible to create on Earth.
Once on-orbit production is complete, Rocket Lab and Varda will conduct in-space operations, re-entry positioning maneuvers to de-orbit, land, and recover Varda’s capsule in Australia at the Koonibba Test Range, operated by Southern Launch.
W-3 is scheduled for launch no earlier than March from VSFB. The fourth and final spacecraft for Varda is currently undergoing final assembly at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and Headquarters in Long Beach, California.
Sir Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO, said, “Delivering W-3 while W-2 is actively operating in orbit demonstrates our team’s exceptional ability to manage multiple complex missions in parallel. It really highlights the skill of our team and the strength of our integrated spacecraft technologies.”
“By increasing the cadence of manufacture, launch, and reentry, we are building the foundation for a thriving orbital economy,” said Wendy Shimata, Varda Space Industries Vice President of Autonomous Systems. “Our goal is to decrease the time between missions until it’s commonplace for capsules to bring products made in space back to people on Earth.”