Payload expands 👀 (10/11/22)

Good morning. Today, we’re thrilled to welcome our sixth full-time member onto the Payload rocket ship. Jacqueline Feldscher joins us as a senior policy reporter. She was most recently senior national security correspondent at Defense One, and previously reported on national security and space at Politico.

We hope you’ll join us in welcoming her aboard. You’ll be seeing a lot more from her soon, but for now, we’ll hand it over to Jacqueline for an introduction.

Hi everyone! I’m Jacqueline, long-time Payload reader, first-time contributor. After leaving the helm of Politico Space last year, I am so excited to be back on the space beat to bring you all the news from Capitol Hill, NASA, DoD and beyond. If you’re in Washington and want to grab a coffee, drop me an email.

In today's newsletter:🚀 Varda flight test 🎙️ Pathfinder #0020🗓️ The week ahead 🔁 On the move

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Exclusive: Varda Completes Vehicle System Test

It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s a falling re-entry capsule!

Varda Space Industries has successfully demonstrated the descent and landing capability of the re-entry capsule for its first microgravity factory test mission. The Varda team dropped the capsule out of an airplane over the Arizona desert to prep for its first mission, set to launch on Transporter-8 next year.

“This was our first major vehicle system test,” Varda cofounder and CEO Will Bruey told Payload. “I don't really want to give the team a big ego, so I'll downplay it and say that they absolutely crushed it.”

All about Varda: The El Segundo, CA-based startup was founded 18 months ago with a vision for microgravity manufacturing. Rather than replicating Earthly manufacturing processes in orbit, Varda’s value proposition is to utilize the microgravity environment to build things—like certain pharmaceuticals and bioprinted products—that can’t be fabricated in gravity.

The company has raised more than $50M in VC funding to date to build its microgravity factories. These factories are integrated onto Rocket Lab’s Photon satellite platform, and consist of the microgravity production environment and a re-entry capsule for shuttling finished products back down to Earth.

Bruey believes that once Varda can manufacture its first products in space, it’ll kick off the flywheel for lowering the cost of manufacturing in orbit, making it economically feasible to build new types of things in space. “You get this positive feedback loop where the number of products that we can make just continuously increases and the cost of doing so continuously decreases,” Bruey said.

The drop test: The Varda team made the choice to test the full vehicle rather than just the pieces necessary to test the parachute and landing procedures.

That choice meant that the team could gather a lot of data about the actual flight design—a major pro. “The cons, of course, are that if it doesn't work, then you spent a lot of work figuring out that it just doesn't work, and you get a little splat situation on the desert floor,” said Bruey. “It was Varda’s first must-work experience.”

The team dropped the capsule from an airplane at an altitude of ~13,000 feet above sea level. In freefall, the capsule reached terminal velocity at ~120 mph, and then deployed its parachutes at ~3,500 feet above sea level. The capsule survived the fall with no structural damage and was successfully retrieved by the team.

The markers of success: Varda’s first microgravity factory is slated for launch aboard Transporter-8 in early 2023. “Our mission success criteria for this first mission is simply to get the capsule back,” Bruey said.

There’s a stretch goal too, though. The Varda team is building a payload that could test microgravity manufacturing on that first mission as well as re-entry. “The trains always leave on time,” Bruey said. “If the payload’s not ready for the first mission, it'll just get on the second one.”

Watch the video of the drop test here.

Pathfinder #0020, featuring Laura Crabtree

We’re 20 weeks into publishing the Pathfinder podcast—and we have a great episode in store for you to mark the occasion. Our guest is Laura Crabtree, cofounder and CEO of Epsilon3.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Spaced Ventures, Pathfinder’s new sponsor. The company is building the world’s first space investment portal, offering direct access to investment deals and letting anyone back innovative space startups. Find out more here.

Now, let’s dive in—Epsilon3 has developed an operating system (OS) for space missions. The streamlined software tool helps space companies keep tabs on complex engineering, testing, and operational procedures. Epsilon3’s customers include Inversion, Orbit Fab, Virgin Galactic, Firefly, Stoke, Stratolaunch, and Privateer, among other companies.

Laura began her space career at Northrop Grumman, before moving on to SpaceX, where she helped put the US back in the human spaceflight biz. She worked on the Dragon ops team and was on the console for the spacecraft’s first flight, its first mission to the ISS, and subsequent commercial crew programs. She also worked on the F9 and Dragon Recovery teams.

We start by running through some highlights from Laura’s time at SpaceX and a brief discussion of the Commercial Crew program. Then, we dig into the software tools that the Epsilon3 team is building and why the space industry needs it.

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the questions Ryan asks Laura:

• Why are space missions being tracked or managed on pen and paper, Microsoft Word, or Excel?

• What gave you the confidence that the space industry is big enough to support a software startup focused on the vertical?

• What precautions does the company take to adhere to ITAR and ensure end-to-end security?

• How are Epsilon3’s tools being applied beyond space, in fields like hypersonics and underwater robotics?

• What’s the story behind the company’s name?

There’s much more, including a custom meme we made for the episode. Enjoy the conversation—you’re guaranteed to learn something new.

Where to listen

📸 Watch on YouTube🎧 Listen on Spotify🍎 Tune in on Apple 

Sponsored

CesiumAstro's Answer To Your Space Comms Needs

CesiumAstro builds high-throughput, software-defined phased array communications payloads for airborne and space platforms—including satellites, missiles, UAVs, and more.

Their full-stack, multi-mission hardware and software products enable a full range of commercial, government, and defense applications.

Ideal for satellite and airborne systems when a rugged, reliable, and low-profile solution calls, active phased arrays provide a compelling alternative to mechanically gimbaled or fixed-beam options.

Their natural resilience to jamming, lower probability of intercept, and having no moving parts enable a wide range of unique missions and operations.

& Houston, they're hiring!

CesiumAstro is also looking for experienced engineers and program managers to add to its team.

In Other News

• Astra ($ASTR) received a delisting warning from the NASDAQ. The company has 180 days to get its stock price up above the $1 minimum or it may be delisted.

• Eutelsat’s satellite broadcasts are being jammed in Iran, SpaceNews reports.

• JPL’s Venus robotic test balloon aced its first test flights.

• Russia launched its latest GLONASS navigation satellite on a Soyuz rocket from Soyuz from Plesetsk.

• India is gearing up to launch commercial space satellites on its PSLV rockets.

• Starlink launched in Japan, the first Asian market for SpaceX’s internet service.

• Vulcan’s maiden flight has slipped to early 2023, Reuters reports. Blue Origin just delivered its first BE-4 flight engine to ULA over the weekend and Astrobotic also requested to push back the launch of its Peregrine lunar lander.

• William Shatner writes in an upcoming book that his trip to space filled him with “overwhelming sadness” (H/T Variety).

On the Move

• Payload hired Jacqueline Feldscher, former senior national security correspondent at Defense One, as our new senior policy reporter. 🎉🎉🎉

• E-Space named Karim Michel Sabbagh as managing director for Europe and the Middle East. Sabbagh is the former president and CEO of SES.

• Microsoft Planetary Computer lead Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño departed the role last week.

• SpaceRyde hired Negar Feher, former VP of Business Development at Momentus Space, as chief revenue officer.

• Sierra Space landed former SpaceX executive, Ken Venner, as its new senior vice president and CIO.

• Isar Aerospace tapped David Kownator for CFO. Kownator was previously president and CFO at REEF Technology.

• European space startups have 200+ open job listings, Payload contributor Andrew Parsonson writes in his latest essay for European Spaceflight.

The View from Florida