Perhaps the first and most near-time challenge is the lifespan of the ISS. The space station is currently the main platform in which companies can test upcoming technologies. NASA has said that the ISS will be decommissioned at the end of 2030, meaning companies are already having to work on product adaptability to new space modules.
“We designed our printer with forward thinking about what’s going to happen in the next few years, because the ISS is not going to be there forever. The printer was designed to be integrated with other platforms,” says Koffler.
The bigger challenge, according to Koffler, is transportation of manufactured products. Currently, there are no commercially available cargo shuttles to and from space. SpaceX is the current leader in developing ‘free flyers’ – spacecraft that rely on robots and software for operation. For space manufacturing to become a reality, a high cadence of launches that go to space and frequently bring back products is needed.
“I’m thinking in the context of a supply chain, and when you’re thinking about supply chains in space, it can be called space supply chains,” Koffler remarks.
Away from the commercial side, there are also still advancements in science that need to be made. Though these are more in the astrophysics department rather than on the biology side.
“I’m worried about what the impact of re-entry will be on the design of manufactured products. You are going to space to get away from some of the design constraints of Earth’s gravity, but then that force is being exerted on products when they’re brought back down [to Earth],” Dr Bailet says.
Overall, the unique challenges that biospace manufacturing presents means that advancing the landscape is “highly capital intensive and the revenues are long term”, according to Vellacott.
“Combined with the highly regulated environment, this results in a high-risk, high-reward business model,” he adds.
Still, both BiologIC Technologies and Auxilium’s CEOs are confident that, if challenges are recognised and addressed, space will become an established location in which medical products are made in the future.
And amid critics from society who question funding being directed to space ventures, Dr Bailet says that while the sector could do more to engage with people, he is adamant that “there is a beautiful impact of space technology”.