Feel the burn with this amazing video of a Varda space capsule’s plunge through Earth’s atmosphere – Space.com
The final two minutes of the video show things really heating up.
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A small space private capsule has captured stunning onboard scenes from its high-velocity atmospheric reentry.Varda Space’s W-2 mission came to a successful and spectacular end on Feb. 27 when the capsule reentered the atmosphere and landed at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.The 265-pound (120 kilograms) capsule spent six weeks in space after launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter 12 mission.The company has now released a video capturing dramatic images from its final moments in orbit above the planet and the final, fiery plunge back into Earth’s atmosphere. — Varda space capsule returns to Earth in 1st commercial landing in Australian Outback (photos) — Private Varda Space capsule returns to Earth with space-grown antiviral drug aboard — Watch this private Varda Space capsule’s blistering return to Earth in amazing onboard videoThe final two minutes of the video show things really heating up, as sparks of varying colors and intensities are captured by the camera as the spacecraft interacts with the thick atmosphere at speeds exceeding Mach 25, or 25 times the speed of sound.The conical capsule landed with the assistance of a parachute and was quickly recovered. The spacecraft carried a spectrometer from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and a Varda enhanced pharmaceutical reactor for the company’s in-orbit manufacturing plans, and collected critical data for developing hypersonic technologies.Varda aims to become a major player in the nascent in-space manufacturing industry, utilizing the unique environment of microgravity to manufacture products including pharmaceuticals.Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!The W-2 mission landing follows a year after the company’s first mission, W-1, which landed in Utah in February 2024. The mission saw W-1 in orbit for eight months before delivering to Earth crystals of an antiviral drug that were grown in orbit.Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.Andrew is a freelance space journalist with a focus on reporting on China’s rapidly growing space sector. He began writing for Space.com in 2019 and writes for SpaceNews, IEEE Spectrum, National Geographic, Sky & Telescope, New Scientist and others. Andrew first caught the space bug when, as a youngster, he saw Voyager images of other worlds in our solar system for the first time. Away from space, Andrew enjoys trail running in the forests of Finland. You can follow him on Twitter @AJ_FI.Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.SpaceX loses Starship rocket stage again, but catches giant Super Heavy booster during Flight 8 launch (video)Hope is all but lost for private asteroid probe in deep space — ‘the chance of talking with Odin is minimal’World’s largest digital camera to help new Vera Rubin Observatory make a ‘time-lapse record of the universe’ (video)
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