NASA Selects 3 New Venture-Class Launch Service Providers

NASA has selected three additional companies to provide launch services for future agency missions through its VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract.

The companies awarded are:

• Arrow Science and Technology LLC of Webster, Texas
• Impulse Space Inc. of Redondo Beach, California
• Momentus Space LLC of San Jose, California

The VADR contract is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity instrument with an ordering period through Feb. 3, 2027 and a maximum total value of $300 million across all VADR contracts. NASA selected the new launch providers in accordance with VADR’s on-ramp provision, allowing the agency to add new capabilities not available or identified at the time of the initial award. NASA will issue firm-fixed-price task orders for launch services as needed for future agency and agency-sponsored missions.

The VADR contract builds on NASA’s previous procurement efforts, such as the VCLS (Venture Class Launch Services) and VCLS Demo 2, providing a broad range of Federal Aviation Administration-licensed commercial launch services capable of delivering Class D, CubeSats, and higher risk-tolerant payloads to a variety of orbits. By using a lower level of mission assurance and commercial best practices for launching rockets, these highly flexible contracts help broaden access to space through lower launch costs and serve as an ideal platform for contributing to NASA’s science research and technology development.

NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contracts. The program also works with private industry, spacecraft projects, and international partners to launch science payloads ranging from small satellites with colleges and universities to NASA’s highest priority missions.