Varda Space delivered a batch of “grown” pharmaceuticals to Earth
February 22, a spacecraft containing pharmaceuticals «grown» returned to Earth. in orbit on a mission lasting more than eight months. This event marked an important milestone in the history of the space industry and pharmaceuticals, marking the successful completion of the first experimental mission to produce drugs in microgravity.
The Winnebago-1 capsule, owned by the space manufacturing company Varda Space Industries, landed in the Utah desert. Inside the capsule were crystals of ritonavir — a drug used to treat HIV/AIDS. This event symbolized the successful implementation of Varda Space's ambitious plan to create a new platform for the production of pharmaceuticals in orbit. Moreover, it was the first time a commercial company had landed a spacecraft in the United States.
After landing, the capsule will be sent to Varda's facility in Los Angeles for analysis, and the vials of ritonavir will be transferred to research company Improved Pharma for subsequent peer review. Varda Space intends to share all data collected during the mission with the US Air Force and NASA, expecting cooperation and knowledge sharing.
Successfully landing a mission of this type represents a significant achievement for both Rocket Lab and Varda Space. Rocket Lab is collaborating with «Varda» in this mission — they placed the Varda production capsule inside their Photon satellite. During the mission, Photon provided power, communications and attitude control and other key operations. At the end of the mission, through a series of maneuvers orchestrated by Photon, the capsule accurately entered the atmosphere and then successfully landed with the help of a special parachute, ensuring safety and protection from damage.
Although the mission was originally scheduled to last a month, it was extended due to regulatory issues. In September, Varda Space faced denial of a commercial re-entry license from both regulators and the US Air Force, which operates the landing site. The Federal Aviation Administration did not approve reentry until February 15th.
Founded in 2020, Varda is committed to changing the paradigm of the pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries by taking advantage of the unique microgravity environment of space. Although the benefits of microgravity have been known for a long time, «Varda» aims to be the first commercial company to bring to market a viable platform for drug production and processing in space.
The capsule's re-entry into the atmosphere at speeds greater than Mach 25 allowed Varda Space to position the capsule as a hypersonic test bed. Last year, Varda received $60,000,000 in funding from the US Air Force to test components and subsystems in real-world flight conditions.
Varda plans to conduct several additional missions in the future, including landing the capsule at the Australian Kunibba test site. The company aims to achieve a monthly mission frequency by 2026. This reflects the speed and scale of development of the company, which hopes to revolutionize the industry and open new opportunities in the production of pharmaceuticals in space.