The Varda Space Industries W-5 capsule returned to Earth in Koonibba in South Australia on Jan. 29, 2026, with the protection of a heat shield made of C-PICA, a cutting-edge material licensed from NASA and manufactured by Varda. Varda Space Industries/William GodwardUsing cutting-edge material licensed from NASA, a protective heat shield manufactured in-house by Varda Space Industries for the first time enabled one of its capsules to blaze through Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday, marking a significant milestone for the agency and America’s space industry. The transfer of NASA’s C-PICA to Varda’s has far-reaching benefits, as the company uses its W-series capsules as a platform to process pharmaceuticals and conduct other microgravity research. This work belongs to the growing sector of in-space manufacturing that depends in part on effective heat shields to safely return products and experiments to Earth. A NASA Technology Transfer SuccessVarda was the first company to license NASA’s C-PICA heat shield material, which has since been licensed to several other companies.