Varda Space Industries has confirmed the successful launch of its second orbital processing spacecraft and re-entry capsule, W-2, which lifted off aboard the Transporter-12 rideshare mission with SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The W-2 capsule will orbit Earth for the next few weeks before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere and landing at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia. This will be Australia’s first ever commercial spacecraft re-entry.
Southern Launch was responsible for securing all required Australian approvals for the mission and has coordinated an end-to-end service for managing the re-entry process and retrieval of the capsule from the Australian desert once it lands back on Earth. Varda Space Industries have selected Southern Launch for their next three W-Series missions.
Until the first Varda mission in 2023, all in-space manufacturing was carried out on the International Space Station. The W-Series missions will usher in a new era of commercial in-space manufacturing.
The natural advantages of the space environment, in particular microgravity, enables the production of improved pharmaceutical formulations that cannot be produced anywhere on Earth.
The W-2 capsule carries payloads from Varda partners, including a spectrometer from the Air Force Research Laboratory, and employs a heatshield with a thermal protection system developed in collaboration with NASA’s Ames Research Center. These payloads are in addition to Varda’s expanded pharmaceutical reactor.
The return authorisation for the mission was granted by the Australian Government in October 2024 and was the first authorisation approved for a domestically returning spacecraft under the amended Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018.
“Varda is honoured to perform Australia’s first commercial space re-entry, and we’re excited to partner with our friends at Southern Launch to support the development of a thriving Australian space sector,” said Varda CEO Will Bruey. “Australia is clear-eyed about the promise of orbital pharmaceutical processing, and Southern Launch have led the way for the future of space infrastructure on Earth.”
