Rocket Lab Books New NASA Mission and Showcases Rapid Re-Entry Capability with Varda Partnership

Rocket Lab (RKLB) is building momentum with two major updates this week: a new launch contract with NASA and a successful third Earth return mission in partnership with Varda Space Industries. The announcements highlight Rocket Lab's dual strengths in deep-space science missions and rapid-response satellite logistics.

NASA's Aspera Mission

Rocket Lab will launch NASA's upcoming Aspera mission, which is designed to study how galaxies evolve by observing the hot gas in the intergalactic medium. Slated for no earlier than Q1 2026, the mission will lift off from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 using its Electron rocket, a launch vehicle that has become a workhorse for small satellite missions.

Aspera is part of NASA's Pioneers Program and was awarded under the agency's Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) program. The mission aims to capture ultraviolet light from intergalactic space to better understand how galaxies form stars and planets over time. It will be the first NASA astrophysics mission to conduct this kind of ultraviolet mapping.

Rocket Lab CEO Sir Peter Beck emphasized the companys continued support of NASA's scientific goals, citing previous missions such as CAPSTONE, PREFIRE, and TROPICS as examples of Electron's track record in supporting innovative space research.

Varda's W-3 Capsule Return

Meanwhile, Rocket Lab announced the successful return of Varda's W-3 capsule from orbit, marking the third completed Earth-return mission in the companies' ongoing collaboration. The capsule landed at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia after a 60-day mission on orbit, managed by Rocket Lab's custom-built Pioneer spacecraft.

This marks the second time in two months that Rocket Lab has supported a full re-entry for a Varda capsule, showcasing its growing reliability in managing rapid, repeated Earth-return logistics. Each mission in the W-series has used Rocket Lab's vertically integrated Pioneer platform to handle power, propulsion, communication, and attitude control for Varda's 120kg pharmaceutical manufacturing capsules.

The spacecraft for the W-3 mission launched just 15 days after the W-2 capsule successfully landed, demonstrating Rocket Lab's ability to operate on an accelerated mission cadence.

Varda's in-space manufacturing capsules are designed to create high-value materials such as pharmaceuticals in microgravity.

The post Rocket Lab Books New NASA Mission and Showcases Rapid Re-Entry Capability with Varda Partnership appeared first on PRISM MarketView.

COMTEX_465530780/2927/2025-05-15T12:01:32