Successful In-Space Manufacturing Startup Conducts Groundbreaking Pharmaceutical Experiment in Orbit

California-based startup Varda Space Industries has successfully conducted its first space mission, growing crystals of the drug ritonavir in orbit. The miniature lab, launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, completed a 27-hour drug-manufacturing experiment and is now on track for a first-of-its-kind re-entry and landing in Utah. Varda aims to commercialize microgravity and build an industrial park in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The spacecraft, part of Varda's Winnebago series, will bring pharmaceutical research specimens back to Earth for analysis and eventual commercial use. The re-entry capsule will be protected by an ablative carbon-based heat shield material developed by NASA. The mission's return to Earth is scheduled for later this month.