W-8 lands after 35 days
Varda Space Industries said its W-8 capsule reentered and was recovered at the Koonibba Test Range at 5:58am Pacific time, after 35 days in orbit. The capsule launched on Oct. 1, 2026, on the same flight as the W-9 vehicle, which the company said was the first time two commercial reentry vehicles were launched together, according to the company.
Three vehicles in orbit at once
When W-8 came down, Varda had three vehicles operating: W-8 and W-9, plus W-7, which launched on Oct. 20. The company said its mission operations team in El Segundo managed all three at the same time, bringing one capsule home while the other two remained safely on orbit. Varda described the simultaneous handling of three missions as a first for the orbital reentry industry.
Steve Layne, the company's chief revenue officer, said the team treated the combined operation as part of an increasingly routine element of orbital infrastructure.
Payloads on board
W-8 carried payloads for commercial and government partners. Canopy Aerospace & Defense flew an interior payload, Smart TPS-F, that used fiber-optic sensors to monitor temperature, heat flux and recession during reentry, and the capsule's exterior surfaces carried next-generation thermal protection materials funded by a government hypersonic testing program. Varda said customers will be able to learn from the returned data, which it said cannot be replicated on the ground.
Cadence and what stays up
The return brings to seven the number of capsules Varda has reentered since 2024. Griff Russell, vice president of W-Series Vehicles, said bringing W-8 home with W-7 and W-9 close behind marked a significant inflection point for the company's operational cadence. W-9 and W-7 remain safely on orbit, and Varda said it expects to share updates on both missions in the coming weeks.
