Varda plans to pioneer the use of orbital manufacturing spacecraft such as this capsule to open unique pathways for engineering materials in space. “Processing materials in microgravity, or the near-weightless conditions found in space, offers a unique environment not available through terrestrial processing,” the company’s website states.

Related: Private Varda Space capsule returns to Earth with space-grown antiviral drug aboard

The recovery made Varda only the third private company to recover an intact spacecraft from orbit, after SpaceX and Boeing.