Space Manufacturing Could Transform Global Supply Chains

In February 2024, a small reentry capsule streaked down over Utah’s Test and Training Range, carrying crystals of the antiviral drug ritonavir that had been processed in microgravity roughly 250 miles above Earth. The mission, conducted by Varda Space Industries, marked a significant step toward commercial space manufacturing, demonstrating that pharmaceutical materials could be processed in orbit and successfully returned to Earth. The achievement is part of a growing push to move manufacturing beyond the planet—a market that some industry forecasts project could reach $10 billion by 2030.

Why Manufacture in Space?

Space manufacturing is the production or processing of materials and products in space, where microgravity, vacuum, and other conditions can enable processes that are difficult or impossible to replicate on Earth. The field includes everything from advanced materials and optical fiber to pharmaceuticals and other high-value products.

On Earth, gravity is an ever-present force in manufacturing. Heavier particles settle, warmer fluids rise, and convection and sedimentation can influence how materials mix, solidify, and crystallize. When gravity is removed, the rules change and in orbit, those effects are dramatically reduced. NASA describes space manufacturing as taking advantage of an unusual combination of conditions—including microgravity, vacuum, and extreme temperatures—that rarely exist together on our planet.

The result is a different manufacturing environment. With sedimentation and buoyancy-driven convection greatly reduced, materials can behave differently as they form. Crystals can grow under conditions that produce different structures and levels of uniformity. Glass and other materials can be processed without some of the gravitational effects that contribute to defects on Earth.

Microgravity doesn't eliminate the challenges of manufacturing—it changes the physics that manufacturers have to work with. And that difference could make it possible to produce certain materials with properties that are difficult, expensive, or even impossible to achieve on the ground.

What Is Being Manufactured in Orbit?

Space manufacturing is producing more than most people expect, though it’s happening in small batches. Pharmaceuticals are currently the most common item. The Utah capsule carried an important load—ritonavir, an antiviral drug used to treat HIV, produced by the startup Varda Space Industries. After the success of the project, the company is now expanding into small molecules and monoclonal antibodies to be developed in space.

Optical fiber is another frontier being explored. A fluoride glass called ZBLAN can transmit light with far lower losses than the silica fiber used throughout the world’s telecommunications networks, but it has struggled to reach that potential when produced under Earth’s gravity. ZBLAN fiber produced aboard the International Space Station has demonstrated how microgravity can suppress some of the defects and crystallization that limit its performance on Earth.

Semiconductors and biotechnologies are also being developed in space. Teams are testing whether ultra-pure chips can be grown more cleanly in orbit, an effort reflected in semiconductor crystal-growth experiments in microgravity. Others have sent research on human organs to the ISS to study how heart and brain tissue develops without gravity's pull, representing a sizable market value of $10 billion by 2030.

The Future of Space Manufacturing and Supply Chains

Like manufacturing, supply chains are also finding new opportunities in space. The broader space economy, which includes satellites, services, and manufacturing combined, is projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, according to the World Economic Forum and McKinsey.

Sending goods to orbit, however, remains expensive and costly to the environment. Orbital infrastructure is thin, and the ISS is slated for retirement in 2030. Every reentry requires complex approvals, and regulations are still catching up. For now, space manufacturing only makes economic sense when the product proves to be of extreme value and the advantages of microgravity outweigh the considerable resources of getting products to orbit and back.

For students eyeing this field, manufacturing and supply chains in space are interdisciplinary areas of study. Building an orbital factory draws on the expertise of aerospace engineers, materials scientists, biotech researchers, product managers, and manufacturing specialists. Each needs the technical know-how of their profession and to understand how their work overlaps with others.

The demand for these professionals is growing. A Bureau of Economic Analysis study of the space economy workforce found that roughly 56 percent of space-economy jobs are STEM roles. Within a sector employing over 373,000 private-sector workers, this is more than double the rate across the wider U.S. workforce. The field is also hiring early-career talent faster than most traditional manufacturing sectors. The trends point to an emerging career that barely existed a decade ago but is on the trajectory for a big impact.

Education in Manufacturing at Capitol Tech

Capitol Technology University's offers a PhD in Manufacturing that blends materials science, biology, and aerospace for graduates to excel in this type of specialization. Your expertise will be in high demand among companies seeking to introduce new technologies while mitigating the risk that can accompany such transformations.

Explore what a degree from Capitol Tech can do for you! To learn more, contact our Admissions team or request more information.

Written by Jordan Ford
Edited by Erica Decker