20 May 2026 Varda Space Industries successfully completed its next mission, returning the capsule to Earth, as the startup is actively combining pharmaceutical research in microgravity with hypersonic technology testing. The Varda W-6 mission capsule has landed at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia, which is owned by Southern Launch. The spacecraft was launched 30 March as part of the SpaceX Transporter-16 program.
For reference: Varda Space Industries is an American aerospace company, founded in 2020 year, which specializes in the industrial production of materials (in particular, medicines and crystals) in microgravity conditions. The main goal of the startup is to deploy space factories in orbit and safely return finished products to Earth in special capsules.
This mission was funded by the US Air Force Research Laboratory through the Prometheus program to test hypersonic technology using commercial spacecraft. One study tested the possibility of autonomous navigation during reentry by observing the positions of stars and satellites in low Earth orbit. The second test involved the use of temperature sensors in the nose part of the capsule. The data collected by them will be compared with the calculation models. The capsule also carried two instrumented heat shields, provided by NASA, made according to new production technologies.
The management of Varda believes, that the company has succeeded in the hypersonic industry, because it offers an opportunity to conduct tests much cheaper, than with rockets or ballistic missiles. The company uses the same spacecraft for research in the field of microgravity, in particular, for conducting pharmaceutical experiments.
Source: https://spacenews.com