"When Will Bruey talks about the future, the timelines are shorter than most might imagine. The Varda Space Industries CEO predicts that within 10 years, someone could stand at a landing site and watch multiple specialized spacecraft per night zooming toward Earth like shooting stars, each carrying pharmaceuticals manufactured in space. Within 15 to 20 years, he says, it will be cheaper to send a working-class human to orbit for a month than to keep them on Earth."
"The company brings its pharmaceuticals back to Earth inside the W-1 capsule, a small, conical spacecraft about 90 centimeters across, 74 centimeters high, and weighing less than 90 kilograms (roughly the size of a large kitchen trash can). The company launches these capsules on an ad-hoc basis aboard SpaceX rideshare missions, where they're hosted by a Rocket Lab spacecraft bus that provides power, communications, propulsion, and control while in orbit."
Will Bruey predicts rapid commercialization of space manufacturing and affordable orbital presence within decades. He expects specialized capsules returning pharmaceuticals nightly within ten years and affordable month-long orbital stays for working-class people within 15–20 years. Bruey cites his SpaceX engineering experience and the rapid maturation of reusable Falcon 9 operations as a precedent. Varda demonstrated orbital manufacturing and return in February 2024 by bringing back ritonavir crystals, becoming the third corporate entity to recover material from orbit. Varda uses the W-1 capsule, roughly 90 centimeters across and 74 centimeters high, launched on SpaceX rideshares and hosted in orbit by a Rocket Lab spacecraft bus.
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