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The first factory built in space is coming, still the unmanned kind!
Just last week, it was sent into space aboard Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, along with dozens of other satellites.
In the zero-gravity environment of space, it will be possible to develop products that cannot be made on Earth.
The first products at the plant are ritonavir, one of the ingredients in the coronavirus treatment Paxlovid, which is also an anti-HIV drug.
It is understood that the space factory program is designed and executed by space industry startup Varda.
The satellite, called W-Series 1, is the first in the entire program.
The W-Series 1 is divided into two modules, the Manufacturing Module and the Return Module, which are mounted on Rocket Lab's photonic platform.
The manufacturing module can automatically complete the experimental task without manual on-site control, and humans only need to implement remote management on the earth.
The founder and CEO of Varda is Will Bruey, a former spacecraft developer at SpaceX.
Another founder is Delian Asparouhov from the Founders Fund, where Delian serves as president.
Space factories, what do they produce?
Varda mentioned on its official website that its subsequent product development will mainly revolve around drugs.
Delian, the founder, bluntly stated that Varda "will not produce products other than pharmaceuticals for at least 6-7 years."
Specific to the W-Series 1 launch, the mission is mainly divided into three steps.
The first stage is the commissioning phase, which is roughly a week after launch, and the main task is to test the system to ensure that it works properly.
The second stage is the formal experimental phase. This phase is after the end of commissioning, that is, the second week after launch.
The experiment involves repeatedly heating and cooling ritonavir to observe its crystallization properties in a zero-gravity environment.
Together, these two phases will last about a month, after which they will move on to the next phase.
The third phase is the return phase, where the W-Series 1 return capsule will return to Earth with the product.
During the return process, Varda will perform another task in addition to production.
The return module will enter Earth at supersonic speeds and land on the parachute it carries. Data from the descent process will be used for supersonic research.
Varda resold the rights to this step of the experiment to other institutions, taking full advantage of the W-Series 1 while recovering some of the costs.
In the future, Varda will continue to carry out in-depth exploration in the field of space pharmaceuticals and develop low-cost, high-quality drugs for the treatment of cancer, diabetes, chronic pain and other diseases.
Why build factories in space?
In space, a zero-gravity environment brings many advantages that are not available on Earth.
This environment is extremely favorable for crystal growth, including proteins.
Because the convective motion of molecules disappears in a weightless environment, particles do not sink to the bottom.
The resulting crystals are higher in purity and better in structure.
In addition, since there is no gravity, the substances in question do not touch the walls of the container, avoiding contamination.
Bruey says some products can only be generated in zero gravity.
Although on Earth, moving objects in a parabolic fashion can also obtain a temporary zero-gravity environment.
But the duration is often less than a minute, which is obviously not enough for product development.
Another avenue is to use microgravity labs built on Earth, but at an extremely high cost.
For example, the leukemia drug Blincyto, the cost of producing 1 mg in the microgravity laboratory is as high as 11,400 US dollars (about 81,500 yuan).
If you want to get a long-lasting stable and relatively low-cost zero-gravity environment, you still have to go into space.
Reference Links:
[1]https://www.freethink.com/space/first-space-factory
[2]https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/worlds-first-space-factory-successfully-deployed
[3]https://twitter.com/VardaSpace
[4]https://weibo.com/5963773637/N5sdL55vc
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