Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) has completed a record turnaround of two Earth return missions in two months with its latest successful mission and Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space Industries (Varda).
Rocket Lab successfully supported the return to Earth of Varda’s W-3 capsule at 02:07 a.m. UTC on May 14th, the third overall successful operation in the W-series of Varda missions.
For the second time this year, Rocket Lab’s highly configurable, medium delta-V spacecraft platform, Pioneer, delivered Varda’s hypersonic re-entry capsule back to Earth. To date, Rocket Lab has successfully built, tested, integrated, and managed on-orbit and de-orbit operations for three of the four contracted missions for Varda.
Each Pioneer spacecraft for Varda’s W-series missions delivered critical mission functions for Varda’s 120kg capsule including power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control. The Pioneer spacecraft was designed, built, and tested at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California. Rocket Lab’s Pioneer spacecraft platform uses the Company’s vertically integrated components and systems, including star trackers, propulsion systems, reaction wheels, solar panels, flight software, radios, composite structures, tanks, separation systems, and more.
The fourth spacecraft in Varda’s W-series is currently undergoing integration and testing at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.