When Varda Space Industries’ W-2 capsule touched down on Koonibba’s red dirt at 1.02am on February 28 it made history.
The little capsule, which rocketed into space on board a Transporter-12 rideshare mission with SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California 45 days earlier, became the first commercial payload to return to Australian soil on a commercial site.
In fact, it’s one of the few times this feat has been achieved anywhere on the globe.
This makes South Australia the national centre for the full space flight ecosystem – from launching into space, to supporting the industry that is testing and manufacturing in space and then returning safely to Earth.
US company Varda Space Industries is commercialising re-entry, much like SpaceX and others have commercialised launches.
Varda is a pioneer in orbital manufacturing, which uses the microgravity and vacuum conditions of space to produce goods that cannot be manufactured on Earth.
Varda pharmaceutical manufacturing capsules have been approved for a further two re-entries at Southern Launch's Koonibba Test Range, on South Australia’s Far West Coast.
The re-entry is the result of significant year-long efforts by Austrade and the South Australian Government.
Austrade initiated the introduction of Varda to Southern Launch and engaged with the Australian Space Agency and DFAT to commence negotiations, concluding with a treaty-level Australia-US Technology Safeguards Agreement.
This agreement enabled Varda and pharmaceutical supply chains, and the rules-based international trading system, to function "off-planet".
Combined with Australia's unique geography, these efforts are building a global space industry in Australia and placing Australia and South Australia at the interface between the world's terrestrial and celestial economies.
Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp said: "This mission marks an incredible step forward for Australia as the global landing site for re-entries and the in-space manufactured goods the capsules carry."
Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation CEO Corey McLennan said the landing was "an incredible moment for our community".
"We are so proud to be a part of another history making moment for Australia," Mr McLennan said.
