[[Home|🏠]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> <span class="no-hover">[[Contracts & Vehicles]]</span> <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> VADR >[!Summary] Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) >**Customer**: [[NASA]] >**Contract Value**: $300 Million >**Type**: IDIQ >**Period**: Through Feb. 3, 2027 >**Vehicle**: [[Electron]], [[Neutron]] > >The VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract is a multi-award IDIQ established by NASA to procure low-cost, risk-tolerant launch services for small payloads, enabling rapid mission timelines and experimental technologies to reach orbit. Rocket Lab was one of several providers selected under VADR, positioning Electron as a key asset for NASA’s smaller science and tech demonstration missions. Unlike traditional NASA launch services, VADR emphasizes commercial flexibility and streamlined acquisition, allowing Rocket Lab to support payloads that may not meet the stringent requirements of larger programs but are critical for early-stage innovation and responsive space access. > > 🔗 https://www.nasa.gov/vadr-venture-class-acquisition-of-dedicated-and-rideshare-launch-services/ ![[Pasted image 20250803101356.png|300]] ## Activity ### On-Ramps #### [[Electron]] On-Ramp **Type**: Capability Award **Date**: January 2022 **Description**: Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket was selected as part of NASA’s initial group of providers under the $300M Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) IDIQ. This established Rocket Lab as an eligible launch provider for small science and tech missions. 🔗 [[Rocket Lab Selected to Provide Venture Class Launch Services for NASA]] #### [[Neutron]] On-Ramp **Type**: Capability Award **Date**: January 2025 **Description**: Rocket Lab’s medium-lift Neutron rocket was officially added to the VADR contract via a capability on-ramp, expanding the company’s eligibility to include larger NASA payloads. **Status**: No task orders awarded for Neutron under VADR yet 🔗 [[Rocket Lab Selected by NASA to Provide Neutron Launch Services Under VADR Launch Contract]] ### Awards #### TROPICS **Missions**: - [[036 - Rocket Like A Hurricane]] - [[037 - Coming To A Storm Near You]] **Award Date**: November 2022 **Launch Dates**: 7 May 2023, 8 May 2023 **Description**: Two dedicated Electron launches delivered four CubeSats for [NASA’s TROPICS mission](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/tropics/), providing rapid-refresh microwave observations of tropical cyclones in low-inclination orbits. **Contract Value**: \~\$12.99 million (fixed-price) **Status**: Completed; both launches successful 🔗[[NASA Selects Rocket Lab to Launch TROPICS Mission]] #### PREFIRE **Missions**: - [[048 - Ready, Aim, Prefire]] - [[049 - PREFIRE and ICE]] **Award Date**: August 2023 **Launch Dates**: 25 May 2024, 1 June 2024 **Description**: Two Electron launches delivered twin 6U CubeSats to near-polar orbit to measure far-infrared radiation from Earth’s polar regions, helping to improve climate models. **Contract Value**: Undisclosed (fixed-price VADR award) **Status**: Completed; both launches successful #### ASPERA **Mission**: [[Aspera]] **Award Date**: May 2025 **Launch Date**: NET 2026 **Description**: A single Electron mission will launch NASA’s ASPERA CubeSat, a small UV telescope studying the flows of hot gas between galaxies and their role in cosmic star formation. **Contract Value**: $8.2m **Status**: Awarded; launch pending 🔗 [[Rocket Lab to Launch NASA Astrophysics Science Mission on Electron to Study Galaxy Evolution]] ## 📰 News %% DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: start ``` table published as "Published" from "News" where contains(contract, [[]]) sort published desc ``` %% | File | Published | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- | | [[News/Rocket Lab to Launch NASA Astrophysics Science Mission on Electron to Study Galaxy Evolution.md\|Rocket Lab to Launch NASA Astrophysics Science Mission on Electron to Study Galaxy Evolution]] | May 14, 2025 | | [[News/Rocket Lab Selected by NASA to Provide Neutron Launch Services Under VADR Launch Contract.md\|Rocket Lab Selected by NASA to Provide Neutron Launch Services Under VADR Launch Contract]] | January 09, 2025 | | [[News/NASA Selects Rocket Lab to Launch TROPICS Mission.md\|NASA Selects Rocket Lab to Launch TROPICS Mission]] | November 23, 2022 | | [[News/Rocket Lab Selected to Provide Venture Class Launch Services for NASA.md\|Rocket Lab Selected to Provide Venture Class Launch Services for NASA]] | January 27, 2022 | %% DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: end %%