NASA Heat Shield Tech Fuels Space Industry Boom

3 min read

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. The capsule's successful return marks the first time a capsule protected entirely by Varda-made C-PICA has come back to Earth.

Varda Space Industries/William Godward

Using 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 material, known as C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), provides a stronger, less expensive, and more efficient thermal protection coating to capsules, allowing them - and their valuable contents - to return to Earth safely.

Varda's W-5 capsule launched to low Earth orbit on Nov. 28, 2025, making it the latest spacecraft from the company to carry science and technology experiments from industry and government agencies into orbit.

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