Q: What is the purpose of W‑Series 3?

A: It is a testbed for in‑orbit materials manufacturing, demonstrating Varda’s ability to fabricate products in space and return them safely via a re‑entry capsule.

Q: How was W‑Series 3 launched?

A: The satellite rode on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket (booster B1081.13) from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4 East on 15 March 2025.

Q: What power systems does W‑Series 3 use?

A: It is powered by two solar arrays and a Curie radio‑isotope power source, providing electricity for its manufacturing and communications subsystems.

Q: How long was W‑Series 3 intended to operate?

A: The spacecraft was designed for a three‑month operational period in its sun‑synchronous orbit.

Q: Did W‑Series 3 successfully return its payload?

A: Yes; the re‑entry capsule performed atmospheric entry on 14 May 2025, delivering the manufactured material back to Earth.

W-Series 3

experimental manufacturing satellite by Varda Space Industries featuring a reentry capsule

Vehicle W Series Q135191687

Facts

20 properties

Instance of: W-Series
Follows: W-Series 2^[3]
Followed by: W-Series 4^[4]
Launch date: 2025-03-15
Country of origin: United States^[8]
Has part(s): W-Series 3 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: May 14, 2025^[14]
Type of orbit: Sun-synchronous orbit^[11]
UTC date of spacecraft launch: March 15, 2025^[13]

🏷️ Also known as

en Photon-06 en Pioneer 03 en W-3 en Winnebago 3 en W-Series 3

🔖 Identifiers · 4

COSPAR ID: 2025-052Q
Described at URL: www.varda.com
NSSDCA ID: 2025-052Q
SCN: 63224

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 4

Followed by (predecessor) 1

W-Series 4

Follows 1

W-Series 2

Has part(s) 1

W-Series 3 Reentry Vehicle

Has these parts 1

W-Series 3 Reentry Vehicle

Instance of 1

W-Series

Operator 1

Varda Space Industries

Preceded by (successor) 1

W-Series 2

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 3 is a W-Series^[1].

References

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

Direct Wikidata claims

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

Class ancestry

[1] ↑ W-Series 3 is an instance of W-Series (Q124611948) [P31, primary]. Wikidata. wikidata.org.

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BibTeX

@misc{4ortxyz_w-series-3_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{W-Series 3}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/w-series-3}, note = {Accessed: 2026-05-03}}

LLM prompt

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