Breaking the bonds of earth, microgravity manufacturing in orbit presents a wealth of new life sciences opportunities from flawless crystallisation for semiconductor materials to producing perfect stem cells.
While mankind has once again turned its eyes to the Moon and Mars, the next space race is focused more on commercialisation than exploration. Taking advantage of microgravity’s unique applications in medicine and advanced materials, McKinsey & Co estimates the space manufacturing market could reach $10 billion by 2030.
New Commercial Players
With the International Space Station due to be decommissioned by the end of 2030, a range of commercial space stations are vying to be at the forefront of in-orbit science.
Apart from China’s Tiangong and India’s upcoming Bharatiya Antariksh Station, key commercial players include Axiom Space, Airbus LOOP, Blue Origin and Sierra Space’s Orbital Reef, and Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin’s Starlab.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Space Forge, Germany’s Eva consortium and the US’ Varda Space are amongst those specifically focused on offering microgravity-as-a-service to those industries looking to leverage the benefits of manufacturing in orbit.
Stem Cells in Space
Conducting experiments on the ISS, Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre was the first to successfully demonstrate the creation of new induced pluripotent stem cells in space.
Adult cells which are reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state, stem cells are used in regenerative medicine to help repair damage, as well assist with disease research and the development of new drugs and therapies.
On Earth, gravity presses stem cells down onto a two-dimensional dish. But a microgravity environment gives them the freedom to arrange themselves in new three-dimensional structures.
Microgravity has the potential to produce stem cells more efficiently or at a higher yield, as well as assist in the creation of “organoids”. These are clusters of cells which create miniaturized and simplified organs used in biomedical research, says Dr Arun Sharma, director of Cedars-Sinai’s Center for Space Medicine Research.
To date, Sharma says the major microgravity biomedical breakthrough has been protein crystallisation, as certain structures can form better in space.
“We’re hoping to find something analogous for cell biology, for example we have some data that indicates that organoids can perhaps form better and faster in microgravity stimulus than they can on the ground,” he says. A dream of mine is to have a lab in space that is parallel with the labs that we have here on Earth. That would allow us to create organoids and explore biomedical applications like bioprinting of artificial heart, brain and muscle tissues in space, in ways that we may not be able to on Earth.”
In August, Sharma’s team sent experiments to the ISS via a SpaceX resupply mission, to examine if microgravity aids the production of heart and brain organoids. It is the third mission funded via a NASA In-Space Manufacturing Award in partnership with Houston-based Axiom Space.
Axiom Space
Axiom Space has partnered with a number of research teams on four of its human spaceflight missions, as well as with multiple experiments on the ISS, with the support of NASA and the ISS National Laboratory.
Along with working with Cedars Sinai, Axiom Space has partnered with the Sanford Stem Cell Institute to study tumor organoids in microgravity, to identify early cancer warning signs to better predict, prevent and treat the disease.
Axiom Space has also helped test a new cancer drug along with the potential for brain organoids to assist with research in Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. According to Dr Lucie Low, Chief Scientist, Axiom Space,
Microgravity research offers the ability to look at a process or problem through a very different lens, and that’s where innovation happens. Currently, the biggest challenge is access to space – Axiom Space is building Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station, for microgravity research and manufacturing that will enable iterative science and expand access, bringing down cost over time and building new sustainable economies in space.”
Low adds:
“Our next-gen platform will service the rapidly expanding global infrastructure and solutions operating in space and provide an accessible platform for private companies and governments to continue innovative research and development to advance civilisation.”
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Semiconductors Manufacturing
Beyond life sciences, microgravity also offers manufacturing benefits such as creating semiconductor materials with far fewer defects, greater purity and improved crystal structures.
The UK’s Space Forge launched ForgeStar-1 in June, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 SmallSat rideshare mission. Along with demonstrating in-orbit semiconductor manufacturing, ForgeStar-1 will also test the mechanics of the Cardiff startup’s innovative heat shield designed to facilitate safe, reusable satellite re-entry.
While the science of microgravity manufacturing is proven, the challenge is scaling, says Lewis D’Ambra, Director of Communications and Public Policy at Space Forge:
“The ISS has demonstrated the benefits of microgravity for materials science, but it is not a viable manufacturing hub for industrial-scale semiconductor production due to safety restrictions, long waiting lists and process limitations,” D’Ambra. “We aim to become the primary commercial platform for in-space semiconductor production – offering rapid turnaround from manufacturing to delivery on Earth, at scales suitable for integration into telecoms networks, electric vehicles, data centres and renewable energy systems.”
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