The Varda W-6 capsule after landing at the Koonibba Test Range May 20. Credit: Southern Launch
WASHINGTON — Varda Space Industries completed its latest reentry mission May 18 as the company balances supporting pharmaceutical research and hypersonic testing.
The capsule from Varda’s W-6 mission reentered early May 20, landing at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia operated by Southern Launch. This was the fourth Varda capsule to land there in 15 months. The spacecraft launched on the SpaceX Transporter-16 rideshare mission March 30.
This mission was funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory through its Prometheus program to test hypersonic technology using commercial spacecraft. One investigation tested the ability to conduct autonomous navigation during reentry by observing positions of stars and low Earth orbit satellites. A second featured temperature sensors embedded in the nose of the capsule to collect data that will be compared with models. The capsule also flew two instrumented tiles provided by NASA made using new production techniques.
“Every reentry builds on the last. W-6 is another demonstration that frequent, low-cost, reliable return is easily accessible,” said Dave McFarland, vice president of hypersonic test and targets at Varda, in a statement. “The data our partners are taking home from this mission would have taken years to collect through traditional testing methods.”
