Pioneer – возвращаемый технологический космический корабль делает RocketLab для VardaSpace

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https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1839329914568523827

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
 Exciting News! Rocket Lab has completed its second Pioneer spacecraft for @VardaSpace enabling them to push the boundaries of in space manufacturing!
After a successful mission crystallizing the HIV drug Ritonavir on orbit and re-entry of the capsule in 2023, we're gearing up for Varda's next mission in the coming months.
Rocket Lab and Varda's partnership is revolutionizing space manufacturing, creating high-value products in microgravity.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3XYCNCy

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https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/upcoming-missions/varda-space-industries/

Varda Space Industries
Developing life-saving pharmaceuticals in space with Rocket Lab's Pioneer spacecraft


Our Pioneer spacecraft can support a wide variety of missions, including playing host to space factories!
Rocket Lab will produce Pioneer spacecraft for in-space pharmaceutical processing company Varda Space Industries that will integrate with Varda's W-series capsule, enabling high-value pharmaceuticals to be processed in space and returned to Earth in a Varda built re-entry capsule.
From life-saving pharmaceuticals to producing more powerful fiber optics, there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. After launch, Rocket Lab's Pioneer will position the spacecraft in an operational orbit and provide station keeping. Pioneer will support Varda's 120 kg manufacturing and re-entry capsules with power, data, and attitude control. All four Pioneer spacecraft will also incorporate Rocket Lab-designed and built spacecraft components, including radios, reaction wheels and star trackers. Rocket Lab's Pioneer will perform multiple burns with the 3D-printed Curie engine, acting as a highly capable propulsion system to place Varda's re-entry capsule on a return trajectory to Earth.
Until now, all in-space manufacturing research has been carried out on the International Space Station and other government owned space stations. This research has demonstrated that innovative materials and products can be created in the consistent microgravity environment of low-Earth orbit, an environment that can't be replicated on Earth. Until now, manufacturing in orbit has been impossible to scale due to cost and lack of frequent reentry. However, because the W-series capsule and Pioneer spacecraft — a platform that does not require human tending in orbit, Varda can begin to scale development of life-saving medicines and lay the foundation needed to enable the orbital economy to scale.
The first Pioneer for Varda was launched in June 2023 and was successfully returned to Earth in February 2024.
More about Varda Space Industries: www.varda.com

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Один уже слетал (в составе миссии Transporter-8)

https://x.com/VardaSpace/status/1846605627327762478

Varda Space Industries  @VardaSpace
Today Varda received authorization from @AusSpaceAgency for multiple W-series vehicle reentries into the Koonibba Test Range, hosted by our friends at @SouthernLaunch. We're honored to perform Australia's first commercial space reentry.


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This authorization makes Varda the first company to be able to reenter spacecraft on land in two countries, ushering in a global economy where reentry is as common as launch. Soon low earth orbit will simply be another place where materials are processed.

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https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1869134582345539660

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Double the spacecraft, double the excitement!
Our Space Systems team has hit another milestone at our Spacecraft Production Complex in Long Beach, CA! We've successfully delivered a second Pioneer spacecraft to Vandenberg Space Force Base and completed a third for @VardaSpace upcoming W-2 and W-3 missions.



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This perfect pair showcases our growing capabilities as an end-to-end space company—from design and manufacturing to integration, testing, launch support, and in-space operations, we get our customers innovative ideas on orbit quickly and cost effectively.

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https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-delivers-second-spacecraft-completes-third-for-varda-space-industries/

Rocket Lab Delivers Second Spacecraft, Completes Third for Varda Space Industries



Long Beach, Calif. December 17, 2024 – Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) ("Rocket Lab" or "the Company"), a global leader in launch services and space systems, has successfully delivered its second Pioneer spacecraft to Vandenberg Space Force Base and completed production and testing of a third for Varda Space Industries, Inc. ("Varda"), the world's first orbital pharmaceutical processing and hypersonic Earth re-entry logistics company.
The two spacecraft are part of a four-vehicle contract between Rocket Lab and Varda, aimed at revolutionizing commercial manufacturing in space. Designed, built, and tested at Rocket Lab's state-of-the-art Spacecraft Production Complex in Long Beach, California, the Pioneer platform serves as the enabler of Varda's innovative missions.
Rocket Lab's Pioneer platform hosts Varda's reentry capsule, which leverages microgravity conditions to conduct operations in space that are difficult or impossible on Earth. Rocket Lab's Pioneer spacecraft provides essential systems for power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control for Varda's 120kg reentry capsule. To enable Varda's operations and safely return the capsule to Earth, the Pioneer spacecraft maneuvers the capsule into the precise position and sets it on a course for reentry. Rocket Lab also provides critical mission operations support for launch, commissioning, operation and reentry of the spacecraft. The first Pioneer spacecraft Rocket Lab developed for Varda was launched in 2023 and spent eight months on orbit, successfully enabling the growth of crystals of the HIV/AIDS-treating drug ritonavir inside Varda's capsule. The capsule was successfully deorbited and landed in the Utah desert in February 2024.
For Varda's second mission, scheduled for launch in Q1 of 2025, Rocket Lab and Varda will once again conduct in-space operations, reentry positioning maneuvers, but this time deorbit the spacecraft over Australia and land Varda's capsule at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.
Rocket Lab's ability to complete production and testing of a third spacecraft for Varda less than two months after completion of the second is testament to the Company's vertical integration strategy and recent scaling of satellite production capability. By vertically integrating design, component manufacturing, satellite integration and testing, Rocket Lab has optimized schedule and cost efficiency in satellite production.
"We're setting a new standard for rapid, reliable satellite production," said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck. "Each Pioneer spacecraft for Varda's missions is a perfect demonstration of our growing capability as an end-to-end space company that delivers design, manufacturing, integration, testing, launch support and in-space operations to get our customers' innovative ideas on orbit quickly and cost effectively."
"This mission is another step toward high cadence reentry," said Varda CEO and co-founder Will Bruey. "Soon, reentry will be as common as launch."

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https://x.com/VardaSpace/status/1870164996967280840

Varda Space Industries  @VardaSpace
We are happy to announce that Varda received our FAA reentry license for our third mission launching in March.

This flight, like mission two, will advance pharmaceutical research as well as fly several payloads in support of NASA and other government partners.

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Второй улетел на Transporter-12 – Falcon 9 (B1088.2) – Vandenberg SLC-4E – 14.01.2025 19:09 UTC

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https://x.com/VardaSpace/status/1895294326701466037

Varda Space Industries  @VardaSpace  ·  Feb 28
We can confirm that at 6:32 AM PT the W-2 capsule landed safely at the Koonibba Test Range, operated by @SouthernLaunch, becoming the first-ever commercial spacecraft to reenter on Australian soil.

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Код Выделить Развернуть

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWxl921rMgM

27:43
Varda Capsule Reentry - Full Video from LEO to Earth
  Varda Space Industries
Varda Space Industries' spacecraft, W-1, successfully landed at the Utah Test and Training Range on February 21, 2024. This marks the first time a commercial company has landed a spacecraft on United States soil. 
A camera installed inside W-1 captured the entire reentry in this first-of-its-kind video.   
You'll witness W-1 orbiting Earth in LEO, smooth separation from Rocket Lab's Photon satellite bus, and its trajectory as it reenters Earth's atmosphere at speeds over Mach 25 before safely deploying its parachute and landing. 
This successful launch and reentry was possible through Varda Space Industries' partnership with Rocket Lab, SpaceX, the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the FAA. 
Space is open for manufacturing. 
For more information about W-1, go to: https://www.varda.com/platform

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Следующий
https://x.com/VardaSpace/status/1900314588132036993

Varda Space Industries  @VardaSpace
We are very excited to announce that our third vehicle, W-3, will launch just 15 days after W-2 came back to Earth—a high cadence capability.

Watch Transporter-13's launch live from SpaceX: https://spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=transporter13

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https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1900924461303689416

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
We did it again! In just 15 days after releasing @VardaSpace's W-2 reentry capsule over Australia, our third Pioneer spacecraft is now successfully operating on orbit!
Pioneer is providing power, communications, propulsion and attitude control for Varda's next 120kg manufacturing capsule. Learn more – https://bit.ly/4iSlURz

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https://x.com/VardaSpace/status/1900815748454301820

Varda Space Industries  @VardaSpace
Our third reentry capsule, W-3, has successfully launched and carries an advanced Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) for the DoD.

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https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1905710080194154767

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Meet Pioneer—Rocket Lab's spacecraft platform currently supporting on-orbit operations for @VardaSpace on their W-3 missions in space manufacturing and processing. It's not just a spacecraft—it's a vertically integrated powerhouse.

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Pioneer's solar array panels? Built by Rocket Lab.
Star trackers? Ours too.
Reaction wheels? You guessed it—Rocket Lab made.
Vertical integration gives us control from the ground up.

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The spacecraft is powered by our reliable, in-house Curie engine, and it deploys payloads with Rocket Lab-designed separation systems. It's end-to-end, Rocket Lab engineered.

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When we say vertically integrated, we mean it. Pioneer is proof.

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https://x.com/VardaSpace/status/1936226386462884282

Varda Space Industries  @VardaSpace
W-4 will launch soon! This is Varda's third mission of 2025 and fourth overall.
Watch Transporter-14's launch live from @SpaceX: https://spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=transporter14

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