What If…
Innovation in medicine and biotechnology almost always begins with a single, elemental question: What if?
What if we try a different process?
What if we use a new material—or combine materials in novel ways?
What if we change the manufacturing environment entirely?
For a growing number of innovators, that final question has led them beyond Earth.
According to an article by Amelia Smith for ISS National Laboratory, that is exactly what Yupeng Chen and Mari Ann Snow—co-founders of Eascra Biotech—asked themselves. What if the same microgravity environment known to improve crystal purity could also enhance the development and manufacturing of their Janus Base Nanomaterials (JBNs)?
Their hypothesis was straightforward yet powerful: with improved structure, integrity, and uniformity, microgravity manufacturing could yield greater bioactivity and better therapeutic outcomes. That single “what if” helped catalyze a paradigm shift in biopharmaceutical development, particularly in regenerative medicine and cancer therapies.
An Eye on the Future
On Earth, gravity-driven forces such as sedimentation and convection introduce defects into sensitive manufacturing processes. In microgravity, those forces are largely eliminated, enabling the creation of more uniform, defect-free materials.
LambdaVision, a leading biotechnology company developing restorative vision products, offers another compelling example. In an article, From Space to Sight: Leveraging Microgravity to Enhance Artificial Retina Technology, Nicole Wagner, Ph.D., President and CEO of LambdaVision, explains how the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit enables layer-by-layer (LBL) manufacturing—a major advancement in biomedical device engineering.
Microgravity allows for nanoscale precision and accuracy, which is critical for complex biomedical systems that must remain stable under extreme conditions. LambdaVision’s work in orbit has demonstrated improved protein deposition and reduced structural weaknesses, resulting in higher-performing artificial retinas.
Together, these case studies represent only the tip of the iceberg. By continuing to ask “what if,” the biopharma industry is unlocking The Art of the Achievable—with benefits that extend far beyond orbit and back to patients on Earth.
Improved drug delivery, higher-performing medical devices, regenerative cell and tissue therapies, 3D organ printing, and other advanced medical applications become possible when access to space is efficient, repeatable, and cost-effective.
Roadblocks to Manufacturing at Scale
While the International Space Station (ISS) has enabled groundbreaking research and early-stage experimentation, it was never designed to support microgravity manufacturing at scale. Several significant challenges remain:
- Complex logistics
- High transportation costs
- Inflexible and unreliable launch schedules
- Limited payload capacity
Biomanufacturing often requires multiple missions to establish, iterate, and refine fabrication processes. With the impending decommissioning of the ISS, companies will be forced to pivot to commercial space stations. Even then, launch availability may involve wait times of up to two years, with constrained payload volumes and, in many cases, one-way missions.
These limitations are slowing the commercialization of space. Today, the industry lacks a reliable, sustainable circular model for upmass and downmass. Yet downmass—the safe, repeatable return of manufactured products to Earth—is essential to closing the production loop and realizing the full potential of space-based manufacturing at scale.
Removing the Burden to Enable The Art of the Achievable
Innovators should not have to divert critical resources into building rockets or managing complex space logistics to realize their vision.
Space Phoenix Systems removes that burden.
Through R/PoD (Returnable Payload on Demand), Space Phoenix Systems is uniquely positioned to play a transformative role in advancing biomedical manufacturing at scale. R/PoD is a frictionless, purpose-built solution that delivers a fully managed, end-to-end service—from door-to-door payload pickup, launch, on-orbit operations, and secure return, to final delivery at a customer’s designated location.
By streamlining payload delivery and retrieval, Space Phoenix Systems enables biopharmaceutical innovators to focus on what matters most: developing and producing biomedical devices and therapies that are impossible to manufacture in gravity-constrained environments.
Built for launch, return, and reuse, the Space Phoenix Systems fleet offers a flexible, scalable, and affordable pathway to microgravity manufacturing—turning “what if” into what’s achievable.