History made for Australia as the first commercial space re-entry lands at Southern Launch’s Koonibba Test Range

The W-2 capsule after it touched down at the Koonibba Test Range.

The Varda Space Industries W-2 capsule safely returned to Earth safely at Southern Launch’s Koonibba Test Range completing a dual-purpose mission with payloads from the United States Air Force and NASA.

The W-2 capsule touched down at 01:02AM local time after spending 45 days in orbit. The W-2 capsule carried a spectrometer built by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and employed a heatshield developed in collaboration with NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The capsule also carried Varda’s expanded pharmaceutical reactor which enables the production of life-saving medicine in space.

Southern Launch is Australia’s leading space mission service provider and was responsible for sourcing all of the regulatory approvals and permitting for the W-2 mission. During re-entry operations the Southern Launch team also worked to ensure air and sea space remained clear for public safety and employed advanced tracking telescopes to watch the capsule reenter and land under parachute.  

Recovery operations were led by Southern Launch with Varda payload experts and representatives from the Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation – traditional owners of the land on which the capsule landed. The recovered capsule will undergo processing with Varda’s payload partners at Southern Launch’s specialist facilities before it is returned to the Varda headquarters in Los Angeles for further analysis.

For Australia, this mission ushers in a new era of space capabilities for the nation. The W-2 mission was the first time a commercial space craft re-entry was granted under Australian legislation and is just the first of many scheduled to return to the Koonibba Test Range.

The Koonibba Test Range is a 41,000 square kilometre commercial launch and reentry spaceport in South Australia.

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. The Koonibba Test Range is fully instrumented with telemetry, radars and ground and airborne optical and spectral image capture capabilities. Southern Launch is looking forward to continuing to contribute our world-class facilities, re-entry permitting, and range operations to future missions with Varda and their partners.”

The W-2 capsule launched as part of the Transporter-12 rideshare mission with SpaceX on 14 January 2025. While in orbit, W-2 was supported by a Rocket Lab-designed Pioneer satellite bus, which provided systems for power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control for the 120 kg W-2 capsule.

“We are ecstatic to have W-2 back on our home planet safely and are proud to support significant reentry research for our government partners as we continue building a thriving foundation for economic expansion to low Earth orbit,” said Varda CEO Will Bruey. “What’s next?”

Enrico Palermo Head of the Australian Space Agency said, ‘This historic return highlights the opportunity for Australia to become a responsible launch and return hub for the global space community – capitalising off the geographic advantages of our expansive continent.’

The W-2 capsule as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere