How Varda Space Industries Manufactures Pharmaceuticals in Orbit

Varda Space Industries closed a $250 million financing round on September 30, 2025, bringing its total valuation to $1.6 billion and nearly $600 million in total funds raised since its 2021 launch, La Vanguardia reported. Founded by former SpaceX engineer Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov of Founders Fund, the company designs and operates automated space capsules that manufacture and crystallize pharmaceuticals in low Earth orbit.

Orbital Manufacturing and Microgravity Drug Production

Earth’s natural gravity creates forces like convection currents, buoyancy, and sedimentation that can interfere with the precise crystallization of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Varda utilizes automated space capsules measuring roughly 90 centimeters in diameter and 74 centimeters in height to process drug compounds above the atmosphere where microgravity minimizes those terrestrial effects. These space-grown formulations yield uniform crystals and alternative molecular structures that can improve drug solubility, stability, and shelf life.

Simplemente tenemos una especie de horno mágico en el que podemos crear formulaciones que, de otro modo, no podríamos conseguir

Will Bruey

The process begins in terrestrial laboratories before the compounds are sent to low Earth orbit inside Varda’s automated capsules. Once the orbital crystallization finishes, the capsules return to Earth for physical recovery and analysis.

Six Space Missions and Initial Ritonavir Tests

The company has completed six space missions to date. Its primary experimental focus centers on ritonavir, an antiretroviral medication commonly prescribed to treat HIV. Varda’s ongoing flight program tests whether orbital crystallization produces superior pharmaceutical formulations compared to standard terrestrial manufacturing methods.

Founders Fund Backing and Aerospace Engineering Background

Will Bruey’s career spans several high-profile engineering and financial roles prior to founding Varda. While studying physical engineering at Cornell University, he contributed to the development of the Violet satellite. He subsequently spent six years at SpaceX, operating eight resupply missions to the International Space Station from ground control and developing systems for Falcon rockets and Dragon spacecraft.

Following his tenure at SpaceX, Bruey worked at Merrill Lynch as global equity technology director and launched an investment vehicle named Also Capital. That cross-disciplinary background in aerospace systems and finance caught the attention of Delian Asparouhov, a partner at Founders Fund, the venture capital firm established in part by Peter Thiel. R. Tolkien.