Varda Space Industries plans to eventually land its spacecraft in Australia, but the company is still waiting on approval to bring down its already-launched first vehicle in Utah next year, according to a media report.. Varda will land its future spacecraft at the Koonibba Test Range northwest of Adelaide, Australia under a newly announced agreement with Southern Launch.
But the company, which is developing systems that will allow customers to manufacture products in orbit and bring them down to Earth, is still awaiting approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force to land its first spacecraft at the Utah Test and Training Range."We got very, very close," Delian Asparouhov, co-founder of Varda, said in an Oct. 20 interview with SpaceNews.
The spacecraft is fully operational in orbit. Asparouhov said that onboard experiments are finished, and that the FAA and Air Force have expressed no concerns about safety.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:Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands
Elizabeth Howell , Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer forfor 10 years before joining full-time.