The industrial research and production of materials in outer space has been a growing trend in the past decade, and now Space Pharma, under the auspices of the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, is about to take an impressive leap forward, following cooperation with the American space giant, Sierra Space. As part of this cooperation, Space Pharma's advanced systems will be integrated into Sierra Space's Dream Chaser spacecraft, which is scheduled to take off into space for the first time at the end of May this year. The move is expected to serve a wide range of companies that will be able to conduct space research and produce materials in microgravity remotely.
Dream Chaser is a spacecraft for orbital and suborbital flights. Its stand-out advantage is its capability for autonomous docking on the International Space Station. The use of the space station has already proven to be a unique opportunity to leverage microgravity conditions in space, to advance scientific understanding of chemistry and biology. The Dream Chaser spacecraft era takes this potential one step further. For Space Pharma's remote-controlled laboratories together with Dream Chaser's ability to dock outside the space station autonomously, without the involvement of astronauts, will enable research and production on a commercial scale.
In addition to all that, Dream Chaser's resemblance to NASA's Space Shuttle, retired from service in 2011, allows it to return to Earth and to land on a runway in a similar manner to an airplane. This method has many industrial advantages, such as soft landing and landing capability in a wide range of orbital space fields around the world.
The installation of Space Pharma's systems aboard the Dream Chaser will enable the company's customers to take advantage of microgravity conditions in space for the production of large quantities of a wide range of polymers, molecules and unique biological products whose tissues in space conditions bring unique values and qualities.
An era of mass production in space
The experimentation with, and production of, materials in space is in fact a nascent industry. This industry is expected to contribute greatly to various fields such as medication and vaccine development. For example, Space Pharma will soon begin manufacturing special drugs that until now were given to patients only by infusion in hospitals and will now be converted to subcutaneous injection in patients' homes independently. In addition, Space Pharma will begin protein formulation and production of tissues and organoids (miniaturized version of a living organ) in commercial quantities.
The start-up company Space Pharma specializes in research under microgravity conditions and has established itself through remote-controlled miniaturized laboratories and an impressive track record of 10 successful missions in space. The company, which has already been supported by the Israel Space Agency for the last decade, is now turning to expanding its activity with the tiny factories of the future for production in outer space, together with the American space giant, Sierra Space.
Uri Oron, Director General of the Israel Space Agency, said, "The collaboration between the Israel Space Agency, Space Pharma and Sierra Space is an important milestone for the Israeli space industry and places us at the beginning of a new era of research and mass production in space. Cooperation with Sierra Space is a significant step in the development of Israel's space field for the benefit of humanity and places our country at the forefront of space research and innovation for decades to come".