A California company has launched the world's first laboratory for zero-gravity drug development and hypersonic technology testing

California-based Varda has succeeded in orbiting the first factory that will create various materials, including medicines, in zero-gravity conditions. The experiment will last just over a month.

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The factory, about 70 cm in diameter, will orbit our planet at an altitude of 1,000 km and will return to Earth in about a month. The first mission of the orbiting laboratory will be to study the behaviour of an AIDS drug. It will be heat-treated to study how crystals behave when gravity is virtually absent.

The Californian company's factory has been sent into orbit using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The lab will be operational next week when the series of tests required to put the vehicle into operation are completed.

When it returns to Earth, the speed of the module with the plant will reach Mach 25 (30,626.1km/h). Varda has already agreed with the military that the capsule will be used as a test bed for hypersonic technology. For this, the US Air Force has committed $60 million and guaranteed future funding.

At an altitude of about 40km above the surface, the speed will still exceed Mach 5 (6174km/h). When the speed drops even further, parachutes will open to allow the capsule to land gently.

If all goes according to plan, Varda intends to undertake a second mission in late 2023. In addition, the Company wants to launch a production station that will remain in orbit at all times. Materials and equipment will be shipped there in the same way as they are shipped to the International Space Station.

Source: New Atlas