# Varda Space Industries

> Varda Space Industries builds spacecraft that manufacture materials in microgravity and bring them back to Earth inside autonomous reentry capsules. The El Segundo company is best known for crystallizing pharmaceuticals in orbit - it grew crystals of the HIV drug ritonavir on its first mission - and for selling its capsules as hypersonic test platforms to the U.S. government. With its W-series vehicles, Varda is trying to turn low Earth orbit into a working factory floor and a routine, high-cadence delivery service back to the planet's surface.

- **Founded:** 2021
- **Headquarters:** El Segundo, California, United States
- **Founders:** Will Bruey (Co-founder & CEO (former SpaceX engineer)), Delian Asparouhov (Co-founder & President (Founders Fund partner))
- **Team size:** ~180 employees
- **Products:** W-Series Reentry Capsules, Orbital Pharmaceutical Processing, Hypersonic Reentry Test Platform, Vertically Integrated Satellite Bus
- **Notable:** W-1 (2023): first commercial company to land a spacecraft on a U.S. military test range and the first to manufacture pharmaceuticals (ritonavir crystals) in orbit and return them., First company to receive an FAA Part 450 reentry license for a commercial spacecraft., W-2 (Feb 2025): landed at Koonibba Test Range, Australia; OSPREE payload captured high-resolution in-situ shock-layer reentry spectroscopy not previously published in open literature.

## Products & services

- **W-Series Reentry Capsules** — Autonomous spacecraft that host microgravity processing payloads in orbit, then return materials to Earth via a heat-shielded reentry capsule that lands under parachute at a recovery range.
- **Orbital Pharmaceutical Processing** — In-space crystallization and formulation of small-molecule drugs that are difficult to produce under Earth's gravity; demonstrated by growing crystals of the antiretroviral ritonavir on W-1.
- **Hypersonic Reentry Test Platform** — Capsules used as commercial testbeds for defense and research payloads to gather in-situ hypersonic and reentry thermochemistry data, sold to customers such as the U.S. Air Force and NASA.
- **Vertically Integrated Satellite Bus** — Varda-built spacecraft bus that supports the full mission lifecycle from orbital operations through atmospheric reentry, debuted on the W-5 mission.

## Achievements

- W-1 (2023): first commercial company to land a spacecraft on a U.S. military test range and the first to manufacture pharmaceuticals (ritonavir crystals) in orbit and return them.
- First company to receive an FAA Part 450 reentry license for a commercial spacecraft.
- W-2 (Feb 2025): landed at Koonibba Test Range, Australia; OSPREE payload captured high-resolution in-situ shock-layer reentry spectroscopy not previously published in open literature.
- W-3 (2025): successful launch and reentry continuing the high-cadence flight series.
- W-4 (2025): first mission flying Varda's own spacecraft bus.
- $48 million U.S. Air Force contract to test payloads on reentry capsules.
- W-5 (Jan 2026): first full mission lifecycle on Varda's vertically integrated satellite bus.
- W-6 (May 2026): successful reentry validating autonomous navigation and advanced thermal protection systems - second reentry of 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — W-6 capsule successfully reentered and landed at Koonibba Test Range, validating autonomous navigation and advanced thermal protection systems.
- **2026-01** — W-5 mission completed the first full lifecycle on Varda's own vertically integrated satellite bus; reported $250M Series D round.
- **2025-07** — Raised $187M Series C led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, reaching unicorn status.
- **2025-05** — W-3 capsule reentered at Koonibba Test Range, South Australia.
- **2025-02** — W-2 capsule landed in South Australia; OSPREE captured novel hypersonic reentry spectroscopy.

## Links

- Website: https://varda.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/varda-space-industries
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/vardaspace
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/VardaSpace/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/varda-space-industries
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Last updated: 2026-06-10