All articles tagged with #in space manufacturing
Space Forge has started operation of the first commercial semiconductor fabrication facility in space, marking a major milestone in off-Earth manufacturing and signaling potential advances in microgravity chip production, with broader implications for the space economy and advanced electronics.
Varda Space's private space capsule, part of the W-1 mission, successfully returned to Earth with space-grown crystals of the antiviral drug Ritonavir. The capsule, designed for in-space manufacturing, captured stunning footage of its reentry, reaching hypersonic speeds before landing in Utah. Varda aims to revolutionize in-space manufacturing by offering an autonomous capsule that serves as both a minifactory and a return vehicle, eliminating the need for human presence in low Earth orbit. The successful mission marks a significant step forward for Varda's ambitions in the nascent in-space manufacturing industry.
Varda Space Industries' W-1 spacecraft successfully landed at the Utah Test and Training Range, capturing stunning reentry footage from separation in low Earth orbit to parachute deploy. The capsule, part of a Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft, was used to test in-space manufacturing technologies, producing ritonavir, an antiviral drug, in microgravity. Varda aims to make LEO more accessible to commercial industries and plans to share reentry data with NASA and the Air Force.
Varda Space's in-space manufacturing capsule, containing crystals of the anti-viral medication Ritonavir grown in orbit, successfully returned to Earth, marking the third private company to recover an intact spacecraft from orbit. The capsule, which spent over seven months in space, will undergo post-mission analysis, and the drug will be studied in a pharmaceutical lab. Varda plans to pioneer the use of orbital manufacturing spacecraft to open unique pathways for engineering materials in space, leveraging the microgravity environment for material processing.
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.