SpaceTech Is On the Rise: Meet the Company Bringing This Revolution To the Pharma Industry SpacePharma, an innovative Israeli company, is at the forefront of these developments
By Max Golderstein •
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The global spacetech economy is expected to grow at 3.7 per cent per annum from $413 billion in 2022 to $461 billion by 2025. And some estimates suggest the combination of declining launch costs and technology advancements can potentially transform spacetech into a $10 trillion sector as soon as 2030. Large aerospace and satellite companies have long dominated the industry serving government-funded interests. Still, in recent years a growing ecosystem of innovative technology providers has emerged to address the unique challenges endemic to the sector. One of the most exciting recent developments has been the technological improvements that allow more pharmaceutical research to be conducted in space. SpacePharma, an innovative Israeli company, is at the forefront of these developments.
SpaceTech's growing role
The space economy is undergoing a renaissance led by well-funded leaders, including SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, and public-private partnerships such as the collaboration of NASA, ESA and Arianespace to launch the James Webb Space Telescope. While the high costs of space travel have historically been barriers to investment and innovation, SpaceX, in particular, has been instrumental in lowering the costs of space travel, progressively increasing the economic opportunities on offer across the sector.
One of the key recent market developments is that investors are becoming more aware of spacetech investment's benefits for industries such as healthcare and manufacturing. For example, pressure is 10 trillion times lower in space than on Earth which prevents the contamination of manufacturing processes, while space's near-zero temperature helps maintain extreme refrigeration temperatures.
As market awareness of the significant benefits of space research improves, more investment is expected to flow into SpaceTech.
Why the pharma sector needs spacetech
Space research benefits for the pharmaceutical sector are significant because space opens up a universe of possibilities beyond what's possible on Earth. In recent years, pharmaceutical research has been conducted from the International Space Station, where the microgravity environment better simulates the human body. Conducting research in microgravity environments offers many unique benefits because it alters a range of processes, including crystal growth, fluid mixing, gas, and liquid separation, heat transfer, solidification, and combustion. And importantly, in space, there's no convection, shear force, or buoyancy.
These compelling advantages mean space offers a unique environment to conduct pharmaceutical research in many areas, including developing different shapes of molecules and chemical reactions, resulting in game-changing pharmaceutical developments. As a result, advancing pharmaceutical research in space could address some of humanity's most significant healthcare challenges, including cancer.
How SpacePharma is helping address the challenge
SpacePharma is emerging as a key player in enabling the scaling up of space-based pharmaceutical research. The company, led by CEO and Co-Founder Yossi Yamin, who has an exemplary track record within the SpaceTech sector, has developed a miniature laboratory that can conduct research experiments in microgravity at a fraction of the cost of traditional launchers.
The company's technology represents an important development for the pharmaceutical sector for various reasons. Firstly, SpacePharma's miniature laboratories can be fitted onto existing satellites, spacecraft, and the International Space Station. That's a substantial cost consideration dealt with at the get-go. Secondly, the company's technology can be used to adhere to space law and bypass space agency regulations. That saves time and money. Thirdly, SpacePharma's miniature laboratories are relatively light, which is an important cost consideration for all SpaceTech. And finally, several experiments can be stored on a single SpacePharma device, which encourages scientists to collaborate and split launching costs while also being more energy-efficient.
SpacePharma's technology is also connected and flexible. It can be controlled remotely or activated in orbit while retaining communication from Earth. And it's customized to enable pharmaceutical research to happen within the confines of the accessible working environments in space. The company's organ-on-a-chip technology allows researchers to grow tissue cultures or liver cells, while its lab-on-a-chip technology enables research into the flow of liquid and its chemical structure in space. For example, this technology can be used to study how reagents can be converted into high-yield crystals, and it can also be used to target cancer cells. The company's technology is a game-changer for enabling more pharmaceutical research in space.
SpacePharma is an emerging pharmaceutical sector disruptor
SpacePharma is positioned as a key disruptor of the pharmaceutical sector. The company enables space-based research, which may lead to breakthroughs in life science, food tech, chemicals, materials, and more. The company's floating laboratories enable space research to happen on a much larger scale than before and at a significantly lower cost. SpacePharma is worth following as the company transitions into a spacetech sector leader.
