Rocket Lab Completes Custom-Built Photon Spacecraft for Varda Space Industries
10 May 2023 - 6:19AM
Business Wire
The spacecraft is the first of four to be
completed for Varda Space Industries to enable in-space
pharmaceutical manufacturing
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems,
today announced it has completed and shipped a custom Photon
spacecraft developed for Varda Space Industries (“Varda”), a
leading in-space manufacturing and hypersonic re-entry logistics
company.
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the full release here:
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Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft integrated
with Varda Space Industry's in-space manufacturing capsule. (Photo:
Business Wire)
The Rocket Lab-designed and built Photon spacecraft will provide
power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control to Varda’s
120kg capsule that will produce pharmaceutical products in
microgravity and return them to Earth. In addition to providing
support during the in-space manufacturing phase of Varda’s mission,
the Photon will place Varda’s hypersonic re-entry capsule (carrying
finished pharmaceuticals on board) on a return trajectory to Earth.
Varda’s space-manufactured products are targeting small molecule
therapeutics, and over time larger molecules and biologics — all of
which can have higher efficacy when produced in microgravity, while
the re-entry capsule provides opportunities to advance hypersonic
systems. This first mission will focus on small molecule
formulation to provide insight into retrieved microgravity-grown
pharmaceutical crystals, particularly the antiretroviral Ritonavir,
an active ingredient in the COVID medication Paxlovid also used in
the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
The Photon spacecraft was developed, manufactured, and tested at
Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Facility in Long Beach,
California. With final assembly, integration, and test of the
spacecraft complete, the fully integrated Varda spacecraft has been
shipped to Vandenberg Space Force Base for launch on a commercial
rideshare mission scheduled for no earlier than June 8.
This Photon spacecraft is the first of four ordered by Varda to
support in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing. Leveraging Rocket
Lab’s deep vertical integration, all Photon spacecraft incorporate
Rocket Lab-designed and manufactured components and software
including star trackers, propulsion, reaction wheels, solar panels,
flight software, radios, composite structures and tanks, and
separation systems.
“Opening access to space is about much more than launch for
Rocket Lab. It’s about making it easier to put the ideas of
tomorrow in orbit today, enabling innovation, rapid iteration, and
new capabilities that will improve lives back on Earth. This is
exactly what the team at Varda is doing by producing novel
pharmaceuticals in orbit and we’re immensely proud to make that
possible with our Photon spacecraft,” said Rocket Lab founder and
CEO, Peter Beck. “Space Systems is a rapidly growing part of Rocket
Lab’s business, and we’re delighted to deliver another spacecraft
that leverages our vertical integration strategy for high-quality
and cost-effective satellite solutions on rapid timelines.”
“Rocket Lab has been an asset in developing and delivering this
spacecraft on our schedule and budget,” said Varda Space Industries
Chief Executive Officer, Will Bruey. “Our engineers at Varda and
the Rocket Lab team have worked together seamlessly and are excited
by the benefits this spacecraft will bring to Earth and
healthcare.”
Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft is a configurable spacecraft bus
platform that can support a range of missions – from low Earth
orbit to interplanetary destinations. A high energy variant of
Photon was developed and launched by Rocket Lab in 2022,
successfully deploying the CAPSTONE spacecraft to lunar orbit for
NASA.
About Rocket Lab
Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with
an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable
launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and
on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier, and more
affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach,
California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small
orbital launch vehicle, the Photon satellite platform, and the
Company is developing the large Neutron launch vehicle for
constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January
2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second
most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 161
satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations,
enabling operations in national security, scientific research,
space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and
communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft platform has been
selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as
the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three
launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a
private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third
launch pad in Virginia. To learn more, visit
www.rocketlabusa.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain certain “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Rocket Lab’s
current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and
their potential effects. These forward-looking statements involve a
number of risks, uncertainties (many of which are beyond Rocket
Lab’s control), or other assumptions that may cause actual results
or performance to be materially different from those expressed or
implied by these forward-looking statements. Many factors could
cause actual future events to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements in this press release, including risks
related to the global COVID-19 pandemic; risks related to
government restrictions and lock-downs in New Zealand and other
countries in which we operate that could delay or suspend our
operations; delays and disruptions in expansion efforts; our
dependence on a limited number of customers; the harsh and
unpredictable environment of space in which our products operate
which could adversely affect our launch vehicle and spacecraft;
increased congestion from the proliferation of low Earth orbit
constellations which could materially increase the risk of
potential collision with space debris or another spacecraft and
limit or impair our launch flexibility and/or access to our own
orbital slots; increased competition in our industry due in part to
rapid technological development and decreasing costs; technological
change in our industry which we may not be able to keep up with or
which may render our services uncompetitive; average selling price
trends; failure of our launch vehicles, spacecraft and components
to operate as intended either due to our error in design in
production or through no fault of our own; launch schedule
disruptions; supply chain disruptions, product delays or failures;
design and engineering flaws; launch failures; natural disasters
and epidemics or pandemics; changes in governmental regulations
including with respect to trade and export restrictions, or in the
status of our regulatory approvals or applications; or other events
that force us to cancel or reschedule launches, including customer
contractual rescheduling and termination rights; risks that
acquisitions may not be completed on the anticipated time frame or
at all or do not achieve the anticipated benefits and results; and
the other risks detailed from time to time in Rocket Lab’s filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including
under the heading “Risk Factors” in Rocket Lab’s Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, which was
filed with the SEC on March 7, 2023, and elsewhere (including that
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may also exacerbate the risks
discussed therein). There can be no assurance that the future
developments affecting Rocket Lab will be those that we have
anticipated. Except as required by law, Rocket Lab is not
undertaking any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230509005556/en/
Rocket Lab Media Contact Morgan Bailey
media@rocketlabusa.com
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