An ADSEP with blue PIL-BOXs, hardware which will probably be delivered to Sierra Space for the LIFE habitat pathfinder mission.
Redwire
Space infrastructure company Redwire is putting a biotech technology test bed on Sierra Space’s first mission with its inflatable space habitat, establishing a recent partnership between the 2 firms to make drugs in orbit.
“It’s an incredible moment for Redwire, an incredible moment for Sierra,” Mike Gold, Redwire’s chief growth officer, told CNBC. “We go to space not only for science and discovery, but to enhance life on Earth.”
“I am unable to inform you how long I have been waiting to say those words. This is step one in a tremendous journey to come back,” he added.
Biological and pharmaceutical research and production is seen as a key customer marketplace for microgravity platforms in space. Redwire isn’t alone in targeting that market, with startups like Varda and Space Forge also working on such test beds.
The concept is to fabricate drugs in space, leveraging the environment to create unique materials, that might be returned to be used on Earth.
“Many drugs are based on crystals. In space you may create perfect, or not less than different versions of, crystals that may then be leveraged to create recent versions of medication with greater efficacy with the flexibility to last more,” Gold said.
An ADSEP facility, primarily supporting regenerative medicine research related to Redwire’s Bio Fabrication Facility (BFF).
NASA
Redwire will include its ADvanced Space Experiment Processors (ADSEP), which process what it calls PIL-BOXs (Pharmaceutical In-space Laboratory – Bio-crystal Optimization Xperiment), when Sierra flies its LIFE (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) habitat on an indication mission, expected in 2026.
Redwire currently has an ADSEP on the International Space Station, which was installed in January, and expects to fly three PIL-BOXs on the upcoming SpaceX CRS-28 cargo mission. It’s previously partnered with Eli Lilly to conduct testing with PIL-BOXs, which were developed through a partnership with NASA.
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“The ADSEP is just like the Nintendo, and the PIL-BOX is the cartridge you set in it,” Gold said.
The pathfinder mission of a LIFE module will represent the primary time it flies in space. Sierra has made regular progress in testing subscale LIFE models, including a test last week at NASA’s Marshall center in Huntsville, Alabama.
An artist’s rendering of a business space station in orbit.
Sierra Space
Each Sierra and Redwire are among the many five firms developing the Orbital Reef space station, one in every of several private habitats aiming to be successors to the ISS when it’s expected to be retired at the tip of this decade. Orbital Reef is envisioned as a “business park” in space, hosting astronauts for research in addition to tourists for exotic excursions.
Gold said this pathfinder LIFE flight will help show the business case for the larger future station. He also noted that the strategic partnership between the businesses features a road map on revenue and mental property sharing that “will turn out to be more explicit as we actually go into operations.”
