California startup Varda House Industries has accomplished its third profitable house capsule return mission.
Varda’s W-3 reentry capsule landed in South Australia on Tuesday night time (Might 13), delivering a payload and information from a sophisticated hypersonic navigation programs take a look at for the U.S. Air Pressure and Progressive Scientific Options Included. W-3 launched on a Falcon 9 rocket March 14, as a part of SpaceX’s Transporter 13 mission.
After 8.5 weeks in orbit, W-3 softly touched down on the Koonibba Check Vary operated by Southern Launch on Tuesday at 10:07 p.m. EDT (0207 GMT and 11:37 a.m. native time on Might 14). The restoration of Varda’s W-3 capsule comes simply over two months after the return of W-2, which landed at Koonibba on Feb. 28.
“All over the world in 60 days,” Rocket Lab wrote in a post on X with a photograph of Varda’s landed capsule.
Varda’s W-series capsules have relied on Rocket Lab Pioneer satellite tv for pc buses for his or her on-orbit communications, energy provide and propulsion, and to eject the capsules following deorbit burns on the finish of every mission. This cinema touchdown was Varda’s second at Koonibba. W-1 touched down in Utah in 2024.
“Excessive-cadence, routine operations is our objective,” mentioned Varda Vice President for Mission Administration Brandi Sippel on the W-3 mission page. “We’re working to make reentry as commonplace as launch,” she mentioned.
All over the world in 60 days. ✅ 900+ orbits ✅24.5 million miles traveled ✅Our third profitable Earth re-entry missionRocket Lab’s Pioneer spacecraft has launched @VardaSpace’s capsule safely again to Earth touchdown on the Koonibba Check Vary in South Australia, operated by… pic.twitter.com/q8qNkN7YoEMay 14, 2025
“Managing three profitable missions for Varda in simply over a yr is a testomony to our crew’s skill to provide tailor-made spacecraft for our buyer’s particular wants shortly and effectively,” mentioned Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck in a statement.
Rocket Lab says Varda’s W-4 capsule is at the moment present process integration with its Pioneer satellite tv for pc bus at Rocket Lab’s headquarters in Lengthy Seashore, California. A launch date for that mission has not but been introduced.