Southern Launch, which operates the site, confirmed Varda’s W-3 capsule touched down on Tuesday after spending 61 days in orbit, while the journey home saw the spacecraft reach speeds of Mach 25 on its descent.
The re-entry comes after Varda’s previous capsule touched down at the site in February carrying a payload that aimed to test pharmaceutical drugs in orbit.
“As we expand our economy into low Earth orbit, re-entries will become as commonplace as launch, and the Koonibba Test Range is the number one place on Earth to conduct these missions,” said Lloyd Damp, Southern Launch’s CEO.
The latest W-3 capsule tested an advanced navigation system in orbit developed by the US Air Force.
The ‘inertial measurement unit’ measures an object’s motion, orientation and velocity, with Varda aiming to see how it would react to the extreme conditions encountered when travelling at speeds exceeding 25 times the speed of sound.
“Everything from cars to wearable fitness trackers have similar devices to tell their computer the orientation and location without the aid of an external signal like a GPS, though commercial IMUs are notoriously inaccurate at high-speed conditions,” Varda said.
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“Varda’s capsule can help test these devices for our government and commercial partners to advance research into high-hypersonic technologies.”
Southern Launch said that during the re-entry, its team worked to ensure air and sea space remained clear for public safety and employed advanced tracking telescopes to monitor the capsule landing with a parachute.
The recovered capsule will now undergo processing at Southern Launch’s specialist facilities before it is returned to the Varda headquarters in Los Angeles for further analysis.
“Varda is increasing the frequency of bringing capsules back to Earth, and our third successful mission proves that routine operations off Earth is within reach. Soon, bringing products from space to consumers will be commonplace,” said Will Bruey, Varda’s CEO.
“We are working to make re-entry as common as launch — creating foundational infrastructure for a thriving orbital economy.”
The deal between Southern Launch and Varda was announced in 2023, and landings were effectively given the go-ahead after the Australian Space Agency granted the South Australian-based firm authorisation late last year.
The Koonibba Test Range covers more than 41,000 square kilometres of uninhabited land and is operated in conjunction with the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation.
It’s also significantly separate from Southern Launch’s more traditional Whalers Way Complex at the tip of the Eyre Peninsula, which specialises in orbital launches over the sea.
W-3 launched onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 that was part of SpaceX’s huge Transporter-13 mission.
The mission carried 74 payloads, including CubeSats, microsats, hosted payloads, a re-entry capsule and an orbital transfer vehicle carrying a further 11 payloads.
Also onboard was Defence’s second Buccaneer satellite, which aims to help fine-tune the performance of the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN).
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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