Space company launches satellite from world’s first ‘space factory’

Last Monday (13), startup Varda Space Industries announced that it has sent its first satellite, W-Series 1, into Earth orbit. As the company explains, the satellite is the first of many that will allow mass production to begin in space—in other words, have completed the first step towards building the world’s first ‘space factory’.

The satellite was launched along with 72 other capsules sent into space by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. In addition to a satellite, the company’s launch included Rocket Lab’s private spacecraft Photon and the Varda reentry capsule. Photon will provide the necessary power, propulsion and communications for the satellite, which will be responsible for conducting pharmaceutical tests in a microgravity environment.

The mission is part of a test to see if the satellite can be used to: manufacture products in microgravity for the pharmaceutical industry; theoretically, it is possible to produce higher quality and faster materials in space.

“From more powerful fiber optic cables to new life-saving drugs, there is a world product used on Earth today that can only be produced in space,” explains the Varda Space Industries website.

Satellite and space factory

Based in California, United States, Varda Space Industries was founded by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov, a former SpaceX employee. The company’s goal is to develop a factory that will mass-produce different products directly from space.

On the Twitter profile of Varda Space Industries, the statement “There is SIGNAL RECEPTION. The solar panels of the world’s first space factory have found the sun and are starting to work”.

There is SIGNAL RECEPTION

The solar panels of the world’s first space factory found the sun and began to topple

— Varda Space Industries (@VardaSpace) 13 June 2023

In this first mission, The company will test the crystallization process of ritovanir, a drug associated with other HIV treatments.. After finishing upgrading, the drugs will be placed in a reentry capsule to return to Earth; The reentry will use a parachute to slow down the capsule, which is scheduled to land in Utah, United States.

Currently, other companies in the pharmaceutical industry operate in space much more modestly than Varda Space Industries, namely Varda Space Industries, as they can lease the laboratories of the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct scientific experiments in microgravity.