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A capsule that aims to create pharmaceutical drugs in orbit has re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and landed at South Australia’s Koonibba Test Range.
Southern Launch, which operates the site, confirmed Varda’s W-2 spacecraft touched down using a parachute at 1:02 am local time and was monitored on the way down with tracking telescopes.
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The W-2 mission marked the first time a commercial spacecraft re-entry was granted under Australian legislation and will be seen as a landmark moment for the local industry.
“This historic return highlights the opportunity for Australia to become a responsible launch and return hub for the global space community – capitalising off the geographic advantages of our expansive continent,” Enrico Palermo, head of the Australian Space Agency, said.
“This return is the culmination of many years of work across government and industry to generate opportunities to grow our local space sector for the benefit of all Australians.”
Southern Launch led the recovery operation alongside Varda payload experts and representatives from the Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation, the land’s traditional owners.
The capsule will now undergo processing at Southern Launch’s facilities before it heads to Los Angeles for further analysis.
“This mission marks an incredible step forward for Australia as the global landing site for re-entries and the in-space manufactured goods the capsules carry,” Lloyd Damp, chief executive of Southern Launch, said.
“The Koonibba Test Range is fully instrumented with telemetry, radars and ground and airborne optical and spectral image capture capabilities.”
Varda, the company behind the W-2 capsule, believes in-space manufacturing could lead to the development of lifesaving treatments because of the natural advantages of being away from Earth, including microgravity and a vacuum.
Aside from pharmaceuticals, the spacecraft also contains payloads, including a heatshield developed with NASA’s Ames Research Center and a spectrometer created by the US Air Force’s research division.
The re-entry allowed the payloads to experience extreme hypersonic conditions, exceeding Mach 15, or 15 times the speed of sound.
“High hypersonic flow conditions are impossible to replicate on the ground, and flight testing is the only way to advance our understanding of the unique aerothermal chemistry experienced by spacecraft on their way back to Earth,” Varda said previously.
“Additionally, most test vehicles are not recoverable and are often limited to lower hypersonic conditions that do not provide a complete picture of the environment with adequate heat loads, pressures and plasma formation.”
W-2 launched last month onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, which was part of the huge Transporter-12 mission carrying 131 payloads in total. All up, it spent 45 days in orbit before touching down in Australia.
It marked the second Varda capsule to enter space after its first landed in the Utah desert in February 2024 with the aid of a Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft.
“We are ecstatic to have W-2 back on our home planet safely and are proud to support significant re-entry research for our government partners as we continue building a thriving foundation for economic expansion to low Earth orbit,” Will Bruey, chief executive of Varda, said.
The Koonibba Test Range covers more than 41,000 square kilometres of uninhabited land and is operated in conjunction with the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation.
It’s also significantly separate from Southern Launch’s more traditional Whalers Way Complex at the tip of the Eyre Peninsula, which specialises in orbital launches over the sea.
