Varda Space lands hypersonic spacecraft after Mach 25-plus mission
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Varda Space Industries in El Segundo, Calif. announced it has landed its second reentry capsule, W-2, marking the completion of its latest mission after six weeks in orbit. The capsule touched down at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia at 6:32 a.m. Pacific Time.
W-2 carried a spectrometer developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and a heat shield designed in collaboration with NASA’s Ames Research Center. It also included internal research aimed at enhancing Varda’s pharmaceutical processing capabilities.
The AFRL spectrometer, known as OSPREE (Optical Sensing of Plasmas in the ReEntry Environment), recorded spectral emissions from the reentry plasma environment as the capsule returned to Earth at speeds exceeding Mach 25. AFRL Principal Investigator Capt. Ashwin Rao stated that the instrument provided the first-ever in situ optical emission measurements of a spacecraft during true atmospheric reentry.
AFRL's collaboration with Varda forms a part of the Prometheus program, which aims to expedite the testing and modernization of hypersonic and reentry technologies by utilizing commercial flight testbeds.
"By partnering with commercial space entities like Varda, AFRL can provide the government science and technology community expanded access to testing in true hypersonic conditions," said Dr. Erin Vaughan, AFRL Prometheus lead. "Prometheus fills a longstanding experimentation gap for the maturation of future reentry system technologies."
The recovered capsule will be processed at Southern Launch’s facilities before being returned to Varda’s headquarters in Los Angeles for further analysis.
Operated by Southern Launch, the Koonibba Test Range spans 15,830 square miles and serves as a commercial launch and reentry site. W-2 is the first commercial spacecraft to land in Australia, following Varda’s W-1 capsule, which was the first commercial spacecraft to land on U.S. soil when it reentered at Utah’s Test and Training Range in February 2024.
"This mission marks an incredible step forward for Australia as a focal point for reentries," said Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp. "The Koonibba Test Range is fully instrumented with telemetry, radars, and optical and spectral imaging capabilities. Southern Launch looks forward to supporting future missions with Varda and its partners."
W-2 launched 14 Jan. as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-12 rideshare mission. In orbit, it was supported by a Rocket Lab-designed Pioneer satellite bus, which provided power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control for the 120-kilogram capsule.
