The story
Varda Space was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov. Will Bruey is a former electrical engineer of SpaceX, and Delian Asparouhov is a partner with Founders Fund. Varda Space Industries began designing their first generation of space vehicles in January 2021 to manufacture new materials in microgravity and send those materials back to Earth in a reentry capsule. Manufacturing materials in the microgravity environment, and absence of dust particles, is beneficial for certain pharmaceuticals, fiber optics, and computer chips. In July 2021, Varda Space received US$42 million in a funding round from various venture capitalists, after receiving US$9 million in an initial funding round in December 2020. The company announced that it raised another US$90 million in April 2024.
In August 2021, Varda Space Industries announced it had signed a contract with Rocket Lab to acquire three Photon satellite buses, with an option to purchase a fourth, to support their initial missions. The first bus was delivered in Q2 2023. In October 2021, Varda selected SpaceX as a launch provider for the first four launches.
Varda Space launched its first 300 kg (660 lb) spacecraft on Falcon 9's Transporter-8 mission in June 2023. Varda's first spacecraft is focused on demonstrating the ability to produce pharmaceuticals in microgravity. Returning the capsule to Earth was planned for mid-August 2023. Varda Space launched the first vehicle with approval from both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and SpaceX to launch with the understanding Varda, the FAA, and the landing site at the Utah Test and Training Range would deliver a reentry license before the proposed reentry date. The first proposed reentry date was denied on 6 September 2023, due to issues between the FAA regulatory requirements and the landing site. Varda subsequently started exploring options to direct capsule reentry to the Koonibba Test Range in Australia. However, on 14 February 2024, Varda was successfully granted a re-entry license by the FAA, and Winnebago-1 reentered on US soil on 21 February 2024 at 21:40 UTC.
Varda became a unicorn in 2025 after it raised $187 million.
From Wikipedia’s article on Varda Space Industries, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6