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Varda will send its first space factory to orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
- Someone 5y agoSo, what will it manufacture? I don’t follow developments in this field, but as far as I know decades of work in Skylab, SpaceLab and the ISS hadn’t delivered a clear case where lifting raw materials into space and bringing back manufactured goods can be profitable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_manufacturing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_manufacturing seems to agree, with phrases such as There are thought to be a number of useful products that can potentially be manufactured in space and result in an economic benefit. Or are they aiming for a long-term goal to keep manufactured goods in space?
- nathandaly 5y agoYeah I dunno, I had the same question.
- nathandaly 5y ago> Varda’s goal is to unlock the benefits of microgravity -- which can only be found for sustained periods in space -- for manufacturing novel materials, like bio-printed organs or specialized semiconductors. The startup’s bet is that the potential market for such materials is high enough to make the effort worth it.