W-2 capsule reentry in 2025 at Koonibba test range, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, adds a space industry first
The W-2 space capsule, carrying a payload including materials manufactured during its orbit, made a successful reentry landing at Koonibba test range on South Australia's western Eyre Peninsula on February 24, 2025.
Image courtesy Varda Space Industries
South Australia’s leading role in the Australian’s space industry took on an added dimension in 2025 when Southern Launch completed a world-first – landing a commercial spacecraft to a commercial test range – at Koonibba on western Eyre Peninsula.
The W-2 space capsule returned to Earth safely at Southern Launch’s Koonibba test range in the early hours of February 28, 2025. It carried payloads from the United States Air Force, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USA) and California's Varda Space Industries expanded pharmaceutical reactor. The W-2 capsule was launched on January 14, 2025, aboard the Transporter-12 rideshare mission with SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It spent 45 days orbiting Earth before reentering the atmosphere and landing in the Koonibba test range on February 28 at 1.02am South Australian time.
Lloyd Damp, chief executive of Southern Launch that was using the Kooniba test range for rocket launches, said the W-2 mission confirmed the range as the best global landing site for in-space manufacturing spacecraft. The return of the W-2 capsule to South Australia proved that manufacturing materials in orbit and returning the materials safely to Earth was possible and could become as common as a space launch.
Varda Space Industries was a pioneer in orbital manufacturing, using the microgravity and vacuum of space to produce goods unable to be manufactured on Earth. The company was commercialising reentry, similar to how Space X and others had commercialised launches.
Varda pharmaceutical manufacturing capsules were approved for another two reentries at Koonibba test range. Varda was introduced to Southern Launch through year-old efforts by Austrade and the South Austraian government. The Australian Space Agency and the Australian goevrenement foreign affairs and trade department started negotiations that led to a treaty-level Australia-United States technology safeguards agreement
Southern Launch sourced the regulatory approvals for the W-2 mission. During reentry, the Southern Launch team also ensured air and sea space remained clear for public safety and employed advanced tracking telescopes to watch the capsule reenter and land under parachute. Additional space reentries to the Koonibba test tange would support jobs and manufacturing on the Eyre Peninsula, bring investment to the Koonibba Aboriginal community, who operated the Koonibba test range with Southern Launch and continued to grow the South Australian space sector.
Australian Space Agency head Enrico Palermo said the W-2 capsule's "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 continent. This return is the culmination of many years of work across government and industry to generate opportunities to grow our local space sector for the benefit of all Australians.”
