Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Pre-launch photo with technicians working on the Varga capsule-mounted spacecraft.
Image credit: Rocket Lab/Inside Outer Space screengrab

The reentry of Varda Space Industries’ in-space manufacturing capsule, named Winnebago-1 (W-1), is set for February 21.

The FAA has granted a world-first reentry license for the mission, enabling Rocket Lab to conduct a targeted reentry of the capsule and subsequent landing in the Utah Desert.

Rocket Lab built and is operating the spacecraft currently hosting the capsule on orbit.

Varda’s W-1 mission was lofted on SpaceX’s Transporter 8 flight last June.

SpaceX Transporter-8 liftoff.
Image credit: SpaceX/Varda Space Industries

However, Varda’s initial plan to reenter the capsule back in September of last year was curtailed due to both Air Force and FAA approval issues.

Engine burns

In the coming days, Rocket Lab will conduct a series of maneuvers to bring the capsule, named Winnebago-1, back to Earth.

The Varda capsule is approximately 3 feet in diameter, 2.5 feet tall, and weighs less than 200 pounds. It is slated to parachute into the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) – a remote area in which NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid return capsule also landed last year. 

In the evening of February 18, Pacific Time (PT) there will be an initial burn of the Curie engine on Rocket Lab’s spacecraft that places Winnebago-1 in its first staging orbit.

On February 20, PT, a second engine burn places Winnebago-1 in its second staging orbit.

Image credit: Varda Space Industries

Afternoon of February 21, PT, the spacecraft’s third and fourth final engine burns to de-orbit and set Winnebago-1 on its atmospheric reentry trajectory.

First of four

The Varda capsule was lofted to grow Ritonavir crystals, a drug commonly used as an antiviral medication for HIV and hepatitis C.

According to a Rocket Lab statement, this mission is the first of four which will use identical Rocket Lab spacecraft to support Varda’s in-space manufacturing.

“The second spacecraft has completed assembly, integration, and testing at Rocket Lab’s spacecraft production facility in Long Beach, California, and is scheduled to launch in the coming months,” adds the statement.

Utah landing site. Image credit: FAA/Final
Environmental Assessment

Coming in hot! (MSL stands for mean sea level. Image credit: FAA/Final
Environmental Assessment

Varda test capsule and still attached main parachute following a 2022 parachute test in Arizona. Image credit: FAA/Final
Environmental Assessment