The Pioneer spacecraft designed, built, and
tested by Rocket Lab is the second spacecraft delivered to Varda
for launch within a month.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems,
today announced it has delivered another Pioneer spacecraft for
Varda Space Industries, Inc. (“Varda”) to Vandenberg Space Force
Base (VSFB) in preparation for launch. It’s Rocket Lab’s third
Pioneer spacecraft produced for Varda, and the second the Company
has delivered for launch within a month.
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the full release here:
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Rocket Lab's third Pioneer spacecraft for
Varda Space Industries W-3 mission in the cleanroom of the
Company's Spacecraft Production Complex in Long Beach, Calif.,
preparing for shipment to Vandenberg Space Force Base. Credit:
Rocket Lab
The spacecraft will support Varda’s next orbital processing and
hypersonic reentry 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 in orbit before it’s hypersonic
re-entry and recovery in South Australia.
Like its predecessors, 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 120kg 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, reentry positioning maneuvers to
deorbit, land, and recover Varda’s capsule in Australia at the
Koonibba Test Range, operated by Southern Launch.
Sir Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO, stated, "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.
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.
Learn more about Rocket Lab’s spacecraft for Varda: Varda Space
Industries | Rocket Lab (rocketlabusa.com)
+ 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, a family of spacecraft platforms, 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
more than 200 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 spacecraft platforms
have 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 contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by
the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained
in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
“Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements contained in
this press release other than statements of historical fact,
including, without limitation, statements regarding our launch and
space systems operations, launch schedule and window, safe and
repeatable access to space, Neutron development, operational
expansion and business strategy are forward-looking statements. The
words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “potential,”
“continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,”
“could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “target,” and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements,
though not all forward-looking statements use these words or
expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees,
but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the
factors, risks and uncertainties included in our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as such
factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), accessible on
the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section
of our website at www.rocketlabusa.com, which could cause our
actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the
forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such
forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of
the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim
any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views
to change.
+ About Varda
Varda Space Industries is making reentry as common as launch. We
are building the infrastructure for a thriving low Earth orbit
economy, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and
economical reentry capsules. The company operates out of El
Segundo, California with office and industrial production space.
Follow Varda on X (@vardaspace), Instagram (@vardaspaceindustries),
and LinkedIn.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250212539705/en/
+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Lindsay McLaurin
media@rocketlabusa.com
+ Varda media contact Media@varda.com
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