Varda Space Industries, a microgravity enabled life sciences company, launched its fourth mission Sunday afternoon. The W-4 mission is the maiden flight for Varda’s next-generation spacecraft, designed and built in Varda’s El Segundo headquarters and manufacturing facility. This flight marks several other firsts for the company and the ever-expanding orbital economy.
While the mission profile is the same as previous flights, the entirety of this mission, with the exception of launch, is built, designed, and fully operated by Varda, including the pharmaceutical processing payload, the capsule, the heatshield, and the satellite bus.
The W-4 vehicle launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-14 rideshare mission at 2:25 pm Pacific time today from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. While in orbit, the satellite bus will provide the capsule with power, communications, attitude control, and propulsion. Once the orbital pharmaceutical processing portion of the flight is complete, the W-4 capsule will separate from the satellite bus and reenter the Earth’s atmosphere. The capsule will reach speeds exceeding Mach 25 and ultimately land safely at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia, operated by Southern Launch.
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“Nothing is more exciting than the debut flight of a new commercial vehicle,” said Varda CEO Will Bruey. “By vertically integrating, we can optimize for the flight cadence needed for our unique mission set, serving both pharmaceutical and government customers.”
“Varda is continuing to develop in-space process tools that meet the capability standards the pharmaceutical industry has come to expect, as well as our understanding of gravity’s role in driving crystallization outcomes,” said Adrian Radocea, Varda’s Chief Science Officer. “Varda’s high-cadence platform enables processing of pharmaceuticals in low Earth orbit outside the International Space Station, and we foresee increased demand to utilize the potential of microgravity for novel pharmaceutical development.”
SOURCE: PRNewswire