I’d seen the story about a spacecraft making a drug in microgravity and planning to land it in the US.
However, the recovery of Varda’s capsule is on hold after the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Air Force recently declined to give Varda approval to land its spacecraft in a remote part of Utah. TechCrunch first reported the FAA turned down Varda’s application for a commercial reentry license.
“Varda Space Industries launched its vehicle into space without a reentry license,” an FAA spokesperson told Ars on Wednesday. “The FAA denied the Varda reentry license application on September 6 because the company did not demonstrate compliance with the regulatory requirements.”
I chose the title because I thought and hoped it’s a reasonable inference.
As an example, the first time I booked my own air flight – actually, every time – I made sure it was a ticket for the days and places I want, and that I got to my home at the end.
Do you know more about this Varda licensing situation? Is it possible to get a re-entry licence before launch? If they could have, they’re incompetent not to. If not, that seems like a ridiculous regulation, requiring someone to launch with no confidence that they can legally come back (and possibly still incompetence on Varda’s part for not making sure all the conditions were going to be met).
No idea, but it’s a new process. Here’s an article from late July about the same issue:
https://spacenews.com/varda-waiting-on-faa-license-to-return-space-manufacturing-capsule/