Q: What was the purpose of W‑Series 2?

A: W‑Series 2 was a technology‑demonstration satellite intended to test in‑orbit manufacturing of materials and the safe return of those products via a dedicated re‑entry capsule.

Q: How was W‑Series 2 launched and where did it re‑enter?

A: It launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4 East on 14 January 2025 and performed atmospheric entry on 27 February 2025, delivering its capsule back to Earth.

Q: How long was W‑Series 2 designed to operate?

A: The satellite’s design life was three months, after which the re‑entry capsule returned the manufactured payload to the surface.

Q: Who built the spacecraft bus for W‑Series 2?

A: Rocket Lab supplied the Pioneer‑type spacecraft bus, while Varda Space Industries built the payload and re‑entry capsule.

Q: What power sources did W‑Series 2 use?

A: It was powered by two solar array panels and a Curie radioisotope power source for continuous operation.

W-Series 2

experimental manufacturing satellite by Varda Space Industries featuring a reentry capsule

Vehicle W Series Q124611950

Facts

20 properties

Instance of: W-Series
Follows: W-Series 1^[3]
Followed by: W-Series 3^[4]
Launch date: 2025-01-14
Country of origin: United States^[8]
Has part(s): W-Series 2 Reentry Vehicle^[12]
Launch vehicle: Falcon 9 Block 5
Manufacturer: Varda Space Industries, Rocket Lab^[5]^[6]
Mass: 300 kg^[19]
Operator: Varda Space Industries^[2]
Powered by: spacecraft solar array, Curie^[9]^[10]
Satellite of: Sun-synchronous orbit
Service life: 3 month^[20]
Significant event: rocket launch (2025), atmospheric entry (2025)^[16]^[17]
Space launch vehicle: Falcon 9 Block 5^[7]
Spacecraft bus: Pioneer^[15]
Start point: Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4 East^[18]
Time of object orbit decay: February 27, 2025^[14]
Type of orbit: Sun-synchronous orbit^[11]
UTC date of spacecraft launch: January 14, 2025^[13]

🏷️ Also known as

en Photon-05 en Pioneer 02 en W-2 en Winnebago 2 en W-Series 2

🔖 Identifiers · 4

COSPAR ID: 2025-009BF
Described at URL: www.varda.com
NSSDCA ID: 2025009BF
SCN: 62662

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections

Manufacturer 2

Rocket Lab, Varda Space Industries

spacecraft solar array, Curie

Significant event 2

atmospheric entry, rocket launch

Country of origin 1

United States

Followed by 1

W-Series 3

Followed by (predecessor) 1

W-Series 3

Follows 1

W-Series 1

Has part(s) 1

W-Series 2 Reentry Vehicle

Has these parts 1

W-Series 2 Reentry Vehicle

Instance of 1

W-Series

Operator 1

Varda Space Industries

Preceded by (successor) 1

W-Series 1

Space launch vehicle 1

Falcon 9 Block 5

Spacecraft bus 1

Pioneer

Type of orbit 1

Sun-synchronous orbit

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Summary

W-Series 2 is a W-Series^[1].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[2] ↑ W-Series 2 — operator (P137): Varda Space Industries. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ W-Series 2 — follows (P155): W-Series 1. wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ W-Series 2 — followed by (P156): W-Series 3. wikidata.org.
[5] ↑ W-Series 2 — manufacturer (P176): Varda Space Industries. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[6] ↑ W-Series 2 — manufacturer (P176): Rocket Lab. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[7] ↑ W-Series 2 — space launch vehicle (P375): Falcon 9 Block 5. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[8] ↑ W-Series 2 — country of origin (P495): United States. wikidata.org.
[9] ↑ W-Series 2 — powered by (P516): spacecraft solar array. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[10] ↑ W-Series 2 — powered by (P516): Curie. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[11] ↑ W-Series 2 — type of orbit (P522): Sun-synchronous orbit. wikidata.org.
[12] ↑ W-Series 2 — has part(s) (P527): W-Series 2 Reentry Vehicle. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[13] ↑ W-Series 2 — UTC date of spacecraft launch (P619): January 14, 2025. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[14] ↑ W-Series 2 — time of object orbit decay (P621): February 27, 2025. Space-Track. n2yo.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[15] ↑ W-Series 2 — spacecraft bus (P707): Pioneer. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[16] ↑ W-Series 2 — significant event (P793): rocket launch. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[17] ↑ W-Series 2 — significant event (P793): atmospheric entry. Space-Track. n2yo.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[18] ↑ W-Series 2 — start point (P1427): Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4 East. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[19] ↑ W-Series 2 — mass (P2067): 300 kg. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[20] ↑ W-Series 2 — service life (P5069): 3 month. space.skyrocket.de. space.skyrocket.de. Provenance: wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

[1] ↑ W-Series 2 is an instance of W-Series (Q124611948) [P31, primary]. Wikidata. wikidata.org.

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BibTeX

@misc{4ortxyz_w-series-2_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{W-Series 2}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/w-series-2}, note = {Accessed: 2026-05-03}}

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