Varda Space Industries is an American space research company that focuses on in-space manufacturing and hypersonic Earth re-entry logistics. They design, build, and fly spacecraft to process pharmaceuticals in microgravity, returning the products to Earth via their W-Series re-entry capsules. Varda partners with organizations like Rocket Lab, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), NASA, and SSPC Research Ireland, and utilizes launch services from SpaceX.
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The Rocket Lab-designed and built Photon spacecraft will provide power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control to Varda’s 120 kg capsule.
Rocket Lab USA completed and shipped a custom Photon spacecraft developed for Varda Space Industries.
The Rocket Lab-designed Photon spacecraft will provide power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control to Varda’s 120 kg capsule.
The fully integrated Varda spacecraft has been shipped to Vandenberg Space Force Base for launch on a commercial rideshare mission scheduled for no earlier than 2023-06-08.
Rocket Lab completed and shipped a custom Photon spacecraft developed for Varda Space Industries.
Varda Space Industries’ 120 kg capsule is designed to produce pharmaceutical products in microgravity and return them to Earth.
The STRATFI strategic funding increase agreement secured by Varda in January is valued at $60,000,000.
Varda has purchased three additional Rocket Lab Photon buses to build more satellites beyond the bus used for the June mission.
The $60,000,000 STRATFI agreement includes $15,000,000 from Air Force and NASA customers, $15,000,000 from the AFWERX organization, and $30,000,000 in private funding from Varda’s venture investors.
The U.S. Air Force awarded Varda a $443,000 Small Business Innovation Research contract in 2021 to study Varda’s reentry capsule as a more economical alternative to traditional flight testing.
Varda Space Industries will provide reentry capsules to the U.S. Air Force for use as hypersonic flight test platforms.
Varda Space Industries has been raising venture funds to send 120-kilogram factory satellites to orbit to manufacture products in microgravity and return them to Earth in a reentry capsule.
Varda plans to manufacture pharmaceuticals and optical fiber in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit.
Varda Space Industries won a $25,000 prize from a Space Force accelerator.
Varda Space Industries plans to use Rocket Lab’s Photon satellites as the platform for its space factories.
Varda Space Industries is a two-year-old startup that has raised $53,000,000 to develop deployable factories to manufacture products in space that can be brought back to Earth.
On 2021-12-02, the Hyperspace Challenge awarded Varda Space Industries $25,000 for first place, Scout $15,000 for second place, and Neutron Star Systems $10,000 for third place.
Varda Space Industries raised $42,000,000 in Series A funding in 2021 to develop a manufacturing facility to make products in space that can be brought back to Earth.
Varda Space considers developing the reentry capsule to be more challenging than developing the manufacturing hardware because atmospheric reentry involves hitting the atmosphere at Mach 28.
Varda Space signed a launch services agreement with SpaceX on 2022-10-11 for a smallsat to fly on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission scheduled for the first quarter of 2023.