Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare Launch Services (VADR)
Active Master IDIQ Awarded
- Federal agency
-
Kennedy Space Center
- Awardees
- 16
- Task orders
- 23
- Obligated
- $293,618,971
Vehicle facts
- Opportunity
-
- IDIQ Launch Service Contract for High Risk Tolerant Launch Services Pre-Solicitation · 80KSC021R0034 · Posted Sep 10, 2020
- 80KSC021R0034ONRAMP Solicitation number
- Agency
-
- Kennedy Space Center National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Combined task order value
-
- $13,603,569,324 Current, with exercised options
- $13,903,564,324 Potential, with all options
- Last date to order 48% complete
- Shared ceiling 98% used
- $300,000,000.00
IDV award and task order details come from SAM.gov/FPDS.
About this vehicle
NASA Kennedy Space Center awarded the Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare Launch Services (VADR) Master IDIQ on January 28, 2022 for commercial dedicated and rideshare launch services, with ordering open through January 27, 2032. The vehicle is unrestricted (No Set-Aside Used), and 14 primes hold task orders. The master's shared ceiling is $300 million, while task orders report a combined potential value of $13.6 billion. Only $262.3 million, or 2% of that potential value, has been obligated.
Ordering has slowed. The 22 task orders were issued between August 1, 2022 and August 22, 2024, at 7 in 2022, 12 in 2023, and 3 in 2024. The vehicle has over five years of ordering authority remaining but has issued no orders in more than two years.
Awarded orders buy firm fixed price launch services for payloads up to approximately 1,000 kg to orbits including escape trajectories, with a high risk tolerance. Named missions include ESCAPADE, TROPICS, and TSIS-2, along with several Streamlined CubeSat Launch Service missions and launch service task orders (LSTO). The source states that missions may require NASA Category 1 launch vehicle certification.
Phantom Space Corp leads by order count with 5 orders ($300.4 million combined potential value), followed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. with 3 orders ($301.2 million). Rocket Lab USA Inc. and Blue Origin, LLC hold 2 orders each. The top five primes by order count hold 59% of task orders. By value, Blue Origin, LLC's two orders ($5 billion combined potential value) and Arrow Science And Technology, L.L.C.'s single order ($5 billion) dominate, and the top five primes by value account for 80% of combined potential value. The remaining primes hold the balance of the orders.
NASA Kennedy Space Center is the sole customer and placed all 22 orders. All 22 orders carry the No Set-Aside Used designation.
Order-level economics vary widely. Individual ceilings are either $300 million or $5 billion, while obligations range from $0 to $99.6 million. The ESCAPADE launch was migrated to order 80KSC022DA102-80KSC023FA102, which carries a $5 billion ceiling and $99.6 million obligated. Several orders obligate $5,000, which the source identifies as a minimum guarantee, not a representative order value.
Description
Commercial launch service contract for dedicated and rideshare launch services
IDV awards
Show all 16
Latest task orders
Show all 23
Top awardees by obligations
| Rank | Awardee | Obligated | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue Origin, LLC | $101,569,232 | 35% |
| 2 | Rocket Lab USA Inc. | $51,598,520 | 18% |
| 3 | Impulse Space, Inc. | $37,374,116 | 13% |
| 4 | Arrow Science And Technology, L.L.C. | $35,992,904 | 12% |
| 5 | Space Exploration Technologies Corp. | $34,277,376 | 12% |
| 6 | Firefly Aerospace Inc. | $31,311,532 | 11% |
| 7 | L2 Solutions LLC | $619,777 | <1% |
| 8 | Phantom Space Corp | $384,324 | <1% |
| 9 | United Launch Services, LLC | $246,190 | <1% |
| 10 | Relativity Space, Inc. | $225,000 | <1% |
Top funding agencies by obligations
| Rank | Funding agency | Obligated | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $293,618,971 | 100% |
Obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Obligated |
|---|---|
| FY2027 To date | $91,385,793 |
| FY2026 | $102,119,226 |
| FY2025 | $37,315,048 |
| FY2024 | $24,093,962 |
| FY2023 | $37,029,618 |
| FY2022 | $1,675,324 |
Quick answers
What is the VADR contract vehicle?
Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare Launch Services (VADR) is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle run by Kennedy Space Center (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), awarded on January 28, 2022.
Which companies hold VADR?
16 companies hold VADR's IDV awards, one each. The latest went to Momentus Space LLC on August 22, 2024. The awardees whose task orders obligated the most are Blue Origin, LLC, Rocket Lab USA Inc. and Impulse Space, Inc.
How much has been spent through VADR?
23 task orders have been placed under VADR, obligating $293,618,971. Their combined current value, with exercised options, is $13,603,569,324.
What is the shared ceiling of VADR?
VADR's shared ceiling is $300,000,000; its task orders have used 98% of it.
Which agencies use VADR the most?
The departments whose task orders under VADR obligated the most are National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($293,618,971).
How much was obligated through VADR in fiscal year 2025?
Task orders under VADR obligated $37,315,048 in fiscal year 2025.
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